David Alaba is Austrian Footballer of the Year

It’s David Alaba turn to receive a great honour! The 28-year-old Bayern defender has been crowned Footballer of the Year in his home country of Austria. Alaba beat RB Leipzig’s Marcel Sabitzer and RB Salzburg’s Dominik Szoboszlai in the vote, which is conducted by the Austrian Press Agency (APA) among coaches and sporting directors of the Austrian Bundesliga clubs. It’s the seventh time that the Austria international has received the award, having won it six years in a row between 2011 and 2016, making him the record winner. “It’s a tremendous honour. I’m very grateful for this award,” said Alaba.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, FC Bayern CEO: “I want to congratulate David Alaba on being voted Austrian Footballer of the Year. FC Bayern is proud of this player and what he’s done for our club in this extraordinary year. David made a significant contribution to the five titles we won. He's a superb footballer, a leader in our team and also a fine man. All of us at FC Bayern are pleased for him about this award.”

Hansi Flick, FC Bayern head coach: “David more than deserves this award for his performances this year. He raised his incredible level again and has become one of the best players in the world at centre-back, a position that was initially unfamiliar to him. He’s been an important cornerstone in our team and contributed a huge amount to us winning five titles. On behalf of the whole team and my coaching staff, I would like to congratulate him on this vote.”

FC Bayern were named Team of the Year on Sunday: