Belgian professional footballer, Romelu Menama Lukaku Bolingoli has been named the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League Player of the Season.
The 27-year-old finished ahead of Bruno Fernandes and Éver Banega to win the fourth edition of the award, which was announced during the UEFA Europa League group stage draw in Nyon. His Belgian international team-mate Eden Hazard collected the gong last season.
Lukaku registered in all six of Inter’s games after entering the competition in the knockout stage – striking seven goals in total – and also laid on two assists. He opened the scoring from the penalty spot in August’s final though he was unfortunate to later deflect in a shot that gave Sevilla the title.
Lukaku nevertheless ended 2019/20 with 34 goals in all competitions for the Nerazzurri, a significant figure as it was also Ronaldo’s return in his first campaign at the club in 1997/98. Having found the net in Inter’s last two UEFA Champions League matches before transferring to the UEFA Europa League, he scored in eight successive outings in UEFA competition.
Top ten players of the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League
1 Romelu Lukaku (Inter) – 270 points
2 Bruno Fernandes (Sporting CP/Manchester United) – 128 points
3 Éver Banega (Sevilla) – 118 points
4 Luuk de Jong (Sevilla) – 64 points
5 Jesús Navas (Sevilla) – 59 points
6 Lucas Ocampos (Sevilla) – 39 points
7 Kai Havertz (Leverkusen) – 17 points
8 Diego Carlos (Sevilla) – 9 points
9 Adama Traoré (Wolves) – 8 points
10 Jules Koundé (Sevilla) – 7 points
How Lukaku was selected
The jury was composed of the coaches of the 48 clubs in last season’s group stage, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, one from each UEFA member association.
Jury members picked their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one. Coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
CREDIT: UEFA.com
