Riyad Mahrez Makes History After Scoring His 17th Goal

Dedicating the prize to all his Leicester teammates, Riyad Mahrez became the first African to be named English football player of the year on April 24th.

The 25-year-old Mahrez was presented with this prestigious award at the Grosvenor Hotel in London on Sunday after scoring 17 goals and 11 assists in the Foxes' fairytale campaign. Mahrez was flown by helicopter to the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) ceremony in London on the weekend that the leaders beat Swansea 4-0.

Mahrez was up against six men including Leicester teammates Jamie Vardy and N'Golo Kante in the vote by fellow professionals in English football.

Riyad Mahrez is only the second winner of the PFA award from outside England. Uruguay striker Luis Suarez won it in 2014 while playing for Liverpool.

Briana Bell