LONDON, April 23, 2018 (News agencies) - Liverpool's Mohamed Salah has been named as the Professional Footballers' Association player of the year for the 2017-18 season. The Egypt international saw off competition from the Manchester City trio of Kevin De Bruyne, Leroy Sané and David Silva to become the second African player to win the award after Riyad Mahrez of Leicester in 2016. Tottenham's Harry Kane came third, with De Bruyne second. Salah, who moved to Anfield from Roma last June for a club record fee of £36.9m, has scored 40 goals in his debut season as Jürgen Klopp's side have reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. Mo Salah says Champions League win is far more important than goals record Salah was presented with the award at the Grosvenor Hotel in London on Sunday evening, with City's winger Sané voted as young player of the year. Salah and De Bruyne have been the standout players during the campaign, which has seen Pep Guardiola's side clinch the league title with five games to spare, but the Liverpool man secured the most votes from his peers after scoring 41 goals in 46 appearances for the Anfield club. "It's a big honour," Salah said. "I don't think about myself. The most important thing is to win something with the team and we're very close now with the semi-final. Hopefully we're going to win. "The team has helped me a lot because of the way we play. They pass me the ball a lot and always try to find me." Salah, who follows Luis Suarez, in 2014, as the last Liverpool player to earn the accolade, is a pivotal reason behind the club's run to the Champions League semi-finals and helping Jurgen Klopp's side all but secure a top-four spot in the league. Salah became the first person in Premier League history to claim three Player of the Month awards in the same season, winning it in November, February and March, and was the only member of Liverpool's squad to be named in the PFA Team of the Year. The Golden Boot frontrunner scored his 31st Premier League goal in Liverpool's 2-2 draw at West Brom on Saturday and will look to help the club to a first Champions League final since 2007, when he meets his former club Roma in the first leg of their semi-final on Tuesday.
