Erling Haaland has won the Football Writers Association’s Footballer of the Year award, but two Arsenal stars finished in the top three.

The Football Writers Association announced their Footballer of the Year and Women’s Footballer of the Year on Friday, with Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Chelsea’s Sam Kerr recognised.

But there was also some recognition for Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, who finished second and third in the polling respectively.

According to the announcement, Saka was neck and neck with Haaland for a while, but the City striker ended up winning in a landslide with 82% of the votes.

Ultimately, that’s no surprise. If you break the record for the most goals ever scored in a Premier League season, you expect to win the Footballer of the Year award.

All the same, Saka and Odegaard have had fantastic campaigns with Arsenal, and it’s good to see both players recognised.

For large parts of the season, Saka was Arsenal’s star man, dragging the team to plenty of key results in the Gunners’ title challenge. He sits on 13 goals and 11 assists in the Premier League, with another three games to go.

If Saka ever slows down, Odegaard is usually there to pick up the slack. The Norwegian international has 15 goals and seven assists of his own, the most goals of any Arsenal midfielder in a single Premier League campaign.

The Arsenal duo will look to go one step further and win the award next year, but it’s good to see so many football writers recognising them for the current campaign.