BEVERLY HILLS, June 05, (THEWILL) – What a season this has been for Portuguese defender Ruben Dias of the English Premier League champions Manchester City. The reliable centre-back has been named Premier League Player of the Season after a remarkable debut season at the Etihad.
Dias arrived in Manchester from Benfica for £65 million last summer relatively unknown and determined to prove himself. And by helping Pep Guardiola’s side shore up their backline with a slow start that eventual picked up pace all the way to the trophy, he more than achieved that.
The champions conceded 32 goals in the league last season, which was four fewer than anyone else managed and much of that was due to the impressive partnership Dias formed with England centre-back John Stones at the heart of the Etihad defense.
The recognition of what he accomplished with City came from analysts and pundits long before the Football Writers’ Association award in May confirmed it by naming the Portuguese Footballer of the year. In addition to that, Dias earned inclusion into the PFA Premier League Team of the Year alongside five other City players.
He may not have seen City reach their fantastical search of an unprecedented quadruple, which remained a possibility deep into April as Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea did them double jeopardy by both knocking them out of the FA Cup in the semi-finals before beating them in the Champions League final last weekend, but his impact was without question.
His contributions were still important for the Cityzens to overcome Tottenham in the League Cup final and complete a domestic double with the EPL trophy to see out half of their projected titles.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
