Ollie Watkins: Villa striker beat “assist king“ De Bruyne and Cole Palmer to EPL award

Aston Villa star Ollie Watkins, has been awarded the Premier League playmaker of the season award.

The 28-year-old Three Lions forward enjoyed an impressive individual 2023-24 season that saw him make 32 goal contributions for Villa.

Villa secured a historic Champions League slot by finishing fourth in the Premier League, despite a 5-0 humbling from Crystal Palace on the final day of the season.

Ollie netted 19 times before assisting another 13, thereby beating Chelsea's Cole Palmer and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne to the Playmaker of the Season award for the most assists in the English top-flight.

Chelsea’s player of the season Palmer, managed 11 assists in total, while De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah, Son Heung-min, Anthony Gordon and Martin Odegaard were among those to finish with ten assists.

The Premier League playmaker of the season award was started in the 2017-18 campaign.

Manchester City’s Belgian maestro De Bruyne, has won it on three times, whip other previous winners include Eden Hazard for Chelsea, Harry Kane for Tottenham Hotspur and Mohamed Salah for Liverpool.