Saka up for two post-World Cup awards despite harsh fans abuse following England's ouster

Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka has been nominated for both Arsenal fan’s player of 2022 and the fan’s footballer of the year awards.

Saka would have understandably been wriggling in sadness and disappointment since England got dumped out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup by France at the quarterfinals stage.

The situation got ugly for Saka after some angry English fans attacked him on social media for being responsible for England’s premature exit. Interestingly, no other English player scored more goals than Saka’s three in Qatar.

That unfortunate circumstance was, however, tempered by several Nigerians who stood up and fought back for the youngster.

The day has gotten even brighter for Saka after it emerged that the 21-year-old is the favourite to win Arsenal Fan’s player of the year award.

Voting is still ongoing but Saka is already leading with about three-quarters of the votes. His closest challengers – Granit Xhaka, William Saliba, and Ben White – are playing catch-up with less than 35% combined.

Saka’s path to the Fans’ Footballer of the year award is, however, not that straightforward.

The England international has made the final shortlist of nine players that also include Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, and Mohamed Salah.

With just days remaining to vote, Saka at the moment has 12% of the votes, to trail leading candidates Liverpool’s Salah (26%), Arsenal Women star Beth Mead (19%), and Newcastle United’s Brazilian ace Bruno Guimaraes.

Saka earlier this year won the England Men’s Player of the Year award. The talented attacker was named Arsenal Player of the Season in 2021.