N'Golo Kante claims award double as Chelsea star named 2017 Footballer of the Year

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Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante has followed up his PFA Player of the Year award with the Footballer of the Year award, decided by journalists.

Kante, 26, was last month named the PFA Player of the Year by his contemporaries and the nation's football writers have also honoured the defensive midfielder.

The France international was the driving force behind Leicester's title win last season and will repeat the trick following his summer transfer to Stamford Bridge if Chelsea win their next two games: at home to Middlesbrough on Monday night and away to West Brom on Friday.

Kante is the 20th player to win the PFA/FWA double, just two years after team-mate Eden Hazard achieved the feat in Chelsea's last title-winning campaign. Hazard came second in the 2017 award, with Tottenham star Dele Alli in third.

Kante said:

" It is a fantastic honour to win this award. With so many great players in this Chelsea squad and in the Premier League, for the Football Writers' Association to name me their Footballer of the Year is a very proud moment in my career."

The FWA said a record 17 players received nominations, with Kante and Hazard together sweeping up 65% of the votes cast.

FWA chairman Patrick Barclay said:

" N'Golo Kante could not be a more deserving winner of English football's most prestigious individual award. In the view of some FWA members, he would have been a worthy recipient last season for his contribution to Leicester's title success, but the almost unbroken excellent form of Chelsea since he changed clubs has left little room for further debate. Considering the competition of Eden Hazard and other players from Chelsea in particular, this is a great achievement."

The full list of players voted for is as follows: Sergio Aguero, Toby Alderweireld, Dele Alli, Cesar Azpilicueta, Diego Costa, Philippe Coutinho, Jermain Defoe, Ben Foster, Eden Hazard, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Harry Kane, N'Golo Kante, Anthony Knockaert, David Luiz, Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez, Gylfi Sigurdsson.

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