The naming of Chelsea's Eden Hazard as this year's PFA Player of the Year would have surprised few among those assembled at the Grosvenor Hotel in London yesterday. The Belgian midfielder's trickery and skill have been a major factor in seeing the London club to the verge of the Premier League title.
The Professional Footballers' Association awards are voted for by the players themselves, representing the respect afforded to the player by his / her peers within the game. Harry Kane was beaten to the award by Hazard, but had the consolation of being named as the Young Player of the Year instead.
There was double joy for Chelsea fans as the Women's Player of the Year accolade also went to one of their own, with midfielder Ji So-Yun taking the prize. London clubs maintained their dominance as 18-year-old Arsenal player Leah Williamson won the Young Player of the Year prize on the women's side.
Hazard was deserving of his honour according to regular Match of the Day pundit, Alan Shearer, who was a winner of the prestigious award twice, during his illustrious career. Shearer believes that the 24-year-old has the talent and ability to improve even further in the game, although claims that he could become the best in the world of Football may be slightly exaggerated.
He still has some way to make the impact and score the wealth of goals that the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have consistently done in Spain.
Yet, his tally of 13 goals and eight assists from midfield, in the league has been highly impressive.
It was the natural next step for a player who took the Young Player of the Year title last time. Tottenham striker Kane will no doubt be hoping that he repeats that progression next year and at 21-years-old, he should have his time to come.
If he does, then England may well have a real chance of progressing deep into the European Championship finals in France in 2016.
There were four other names on the shortlist for the main award besides Hazard and Kane: Diego Costa(Chelsea), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), David De Gea (Man Utd), Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal).
Clearly the players' votes reflected their belief that Hazard was the man who showed longevity of performances throughout the season.
Others such as Costa and Sanchez had amazing starts to their league campaigns but have tailed off somewhat in the second half of the season. Coutinho sparkled for an average Liverpool side at one stage, but was never a major threat to Hazard. De Gea may have had a case for being the winner (along with Kane), but goalkeepers don't tend to win the major awards.
There could have been a strong case for Chelsea's captain John Terry being included on the list. His displays have kept the Blues' defence in order during a testing recent spell when victories have had to be ground out. Yet he will surely not begrudge his team mate his success instead, especially if he helps the club to clinch the Premier League title this year.
