Paris Saint Germain forward Edinson Cavani receives the French players’ Ligue 1 best player’s award on May 15, 2017 © AFP / FRANCK FIFE
PARIS, France, May 15 – Paris Saint-Germain’s Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani was voted French players’ player of the year on Monday with Monaco striker Kylian Mbappe winning the under-21’s title.
Cavani has flourished in the absence of departed Zlatan Ibrahimovic and has notched up 35 league goals so far since moving into the centre forward slot from the wing where he was exiled while the giant Swede was around.
With two games of the season to go, Cavani has 48 goals for PSG in all competitions, two short of the French record of 50 set by Ibrahimovic last season.
The award comes during a tough season for Paris who were humiliated by Barcelona and appear to have lost their league title to Monaco.
“I would have preferred collective awards to a personal one but this season will teach us many positive things for the upcoming one,” Cavani said.
The 30-year-old edged Monaco midfielder Bernardo Silva into second while Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette was third.
Mbappe, just 18, has had a sensational break out year, especially since the winter break, while his coach at Monaco, Leonardo Jardim, won the coach’s award.
Awards
Best player: Edinson Cavani (PSG)
Best under-21: Kylian Mbappe (Monaco)
Best female player: Sakina Karchaoui (Montpellier)
Best coach: Leonardo Jardim (Monaco)
Dream team (4-3-3): Danijel Subasic (Monaco); Djibril Sidibe (Monaco), Kamil Glik (Monaco), Thiago Silva (PSG); Benjamin Mendy (Monaco), Jean-Michael Seri (Nice), Marco Verratti (PSG), Bernardo Silva (Monaco); Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon), Edinson Cavani (PSG), Kylian Mbappe (Monaco)
Best goal: Memphis Depay (Lyon) against Toulouse (29th round of games)
