5th June, 2021
By Muhaimin Olowoporoku
Manchester City duo, Pep Guardiola and Ruben Dias have been named 2020/21 Premier League manager and player of the season.
Dias beat his team-mate Kevin De Bruyne and Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane to the prize, following a sparkling debut in England.
It completes a double for Dias, who was named the Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year last month.
The 24-year-old’s solid defensive displays helped Pep Guardiola’s team to storm clear at the top of the table during the second half of the season.
Guardiola on the other hand guided City to the Premier League title this season for the third time in the space of four years. He won his previous manager of the season awards in each of that other title-winning campaigns in 2017/18 and 2018/19.
Over the years, Premier League manager of the season has typically been awarded to the boss of the champions, with only a handful of exceptions if a particular coach has led their team above and beyond reasonable expectations.
Guardiola now draws level with both Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho with three managers of the season awards to his name.