Chelsea: Pernille Harder named Uefa Player of the Year
- Published
It is the second time Harder has won the award, having also claimed it in 2018
Chelsea forward Pernille Harder has been named the Uefa women's Player of the Year for 2019-2020.
The 27-year-old Denmark captain scored nine times as Wolfsburg reached last season's Champions League final before joining the Blues this summer.
She was selected from a shortlist featuring England defender Lucy Bronze and Lyon captain Wendie Renard.
The inaugural coach of the year award went to Lyon's Jean-Luc Vasseur for a stellar debut season with the club.
The 51-year-old led Lyon to only the second perfect campaign in Uefa women's club competition to clinch their fifth title in a row and seventh overall, as well as another French double.
He was chosen from a shortlist of three that also included Barcelona's Lluis Cortes and Wolfsburg's Stephan Lerch.
Lyon's victory in the 2020 Champions League saw them dominate Uefa's positional awards, with Sarah Bouhaddi (goalkeeper), Renard (defender) and Dzsenifer Marozsan (midfielder) all selected.
Harder, named player of the year in 2018, was also named forward of the season.
Previous Uefa women's player of the year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Year | Player |
2013 | Nadine Angerer | 2017 | Lieke Martens |
2014 | Nadine Kessler | 2018 | Pernille Harder |
2015 | Celia Sasic | 2019 | Lucy Bronze |
2016 | Ada Hegerberg | ||
Harder sees off strong competition
Denmark captain Harder was one of the main reasons for Wolfsburg's impressive 2019-20 Champions League campaign, with her nine goals making her second top-scorer in last year's competition.
Her tally included four goals in the last-eight tie against Glasgow City.
She joined Chelsea for a fee believed to be in excess of £250,000 at the start of last month, after helping Wolfsburg win four consecutive German league and cup doubles since joining them in 2017.
Harder succeeds Bronze as the women's Player of the Year. The England right-back secured a third straight Champions League title with Lyon in August before returning to Manchester City, who she left in 2017 for the French side.
Renard was at the heart of Lyon's success last season, captaining the side as they dominated the women's game.
The shortlist of three players was selected by a jury composed of the coaches of the eight clubs which participated in the final tournament of the 2019-20 women's Champions League and 20 journalists specialising in women's football.