Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante has been voted the 2017 Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers' Association.
The France international topped the poll of the 340-strong membership ahead of Blues team-mate Eden Hazard, with Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli in third place.
Between them, Blues duo Kante and Hazard, who was the 2015 Footballer of the Year, collected more than 65 per cent of the journalists' votes, which were spread over a record number of 17 different players.
Kante was instrumental in Leicester's shock Premier League triumph last season and following his £32million summer switch to west London, the midfielder looks set to collect a second successive championship medal with Chelsea now needing just two more victories to secure the title.
The 26-year-old will receive the prestigious FWA accolade, which has been awarded since 1948, at a gala dinner in London on May 18 when the association marks its 70th anniversary.
"It is a fantastic honour to win this award. With so many great players in this Chelsea squad and in the Premier League, for the Football Writers' Association of this country to name me as their Footballer of the Year is a very proud moment in my career," said Kante, who last month collected the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year trophy.
Five Chelsea players were nominated by FWA members, with David Luiz, Diego Costa and Cesar Azpilicueta also receiving votes.
FWA chairman Patrick Barclay paid tribute to Kante's dynamic campaign at the heart of Antonio Conte's team.
"N'Golo Kante could not be a more deserving winner of English football's most prestigious individual award," he said.
"In the view of some FWA members, he would have been a worthy recipient last season for his contribution to Leicester's title success, but the almost unbroken excellent form of Chelsea since he changed clubs has left little room for further debate.
"Considering the competition of Eden Hazard and others from Chelsea in particular, this is a great achievement."
Full list of players to receive votes:
Sergio Aguero (Man City), Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham), Dele Alli (Tottenham), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Diego Costa (Chelsea), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Sunderland), Ben Foster (West Brom), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United), Harry Kane (Tottenham), N'Golo Kante (Chelsea), Anthony Knockaert (Brighton), David Luiz (Chelsea), Romelu Lukaku (Everton), Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal), Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea)
N'Golo Kante In Numbers
32million Kante's transfer fee from champions Leicester - £3million less than Arsenal spent on Granit Xhaka and roughly a third of the fee Manchester United paid for Paul Pogba.
25 Premier League wins for Kante this season in 33 appearances - two more than he enjoyed in 37 games for Leicester last term.
114 Tackles made, ranking him second in the Premier League behind Idrissa Gueye.
79 Interceptions, the joint-fifth highest in the league and most of any Chelsea player.
2,011 Passes completed, the sixth-highest in the league.
2,959 Minutes played, the third most of any Chelsea outfield player.
9 Yellow cards.
0 Red cards.
1 League goal scored, against Manchester United - opponents he also scored against in the FA Cup.
1 He is close to becoming the first player to win back-to-back Premier League titles with different clubs.
N'Golo Kante Profile
Diminutive in stature, a giant of a player. N'Golo Kante is an outstanding footballer whose influence cannot be measured by statistics alone.
He has a modest record of one Premier League goal this season. His personality is modest, too, while he is always smiling.
The 26-year-old, who stands at 5ft 6in (one metre 68 centimetres), is a selfless player on the pitch and understated off it, parking his Mini at Chelsea's Cobham training ground alongside the super cars and 4x4s. He would probably prefer to run to work.
Once the term used was "water carrier" for the role Kante fulfils.
But that did many of those who look after the nuts and bolts, while others apply the gloss, a disservice.
Heat maps of the midfielder have suggested he is everywhere and his Chelsea team-mate Eden Hazard joked the midfielder must have a twin, so omnipresent is the Frenchman.
Kante has irrepressible athleticism, indomitable will and astounding game intelligence, anticipating the play, covering ground and breaking the mould of the conventional midfielder. All those attributes have now been formally recognised by his peers and the game's journalists, with Kante voted as the best player in the country by the Professional Footballers' Association and now the Football Writers' Association.
Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte persuaded Kante to swap surprise Premier League champions Leicester for a Chelsea team which finished 10th last term and was out of Europe.
He opted out of the Champions League, viewing, as usual, the bigger picture.
Now, as Chelsea close in on the title, Kante is set to become the first player since Eric Cantona in 1992 and 1993 to win successive English championships with different clubs.
But Cantona did not play full seasons with Leeds or Manchester United.
Mark Schwarzer was part of successive title-winning squads - at Chelsea and as a Leicester team-mate of Kante's - but the goalkeeper did not make a Premier League appearance for the Foxes.
Kante quickly proved why he was a priority signing for Conte, who admitted he only became aware of the midfielder after his £5.6million move to Leicester from Caen.
A year later, Kante moved on to Stamford Bridge for £32m, a third of the cost of Paul Pogba's move from Juventus to Manchester United.
The transfer fee which Kante could now command would likely make oligarchs and Sheikhs think twice before signing the cheque, but Conte insists the midfielder's presence is no title-winning guarantee.
Conte said: "If it is so simple, next season I think every team would pay £100million for N'Golo and would be sure to win the title."
Kante is another player who got away from Arsene Wenger, who was aware of him from his spells at Boulogne and Caen.
And when Kante was exposed by Mesut Ozil in Arsenal's 3-0 win over Chelsea in September, Wenger may have thought he was correct.
But Kante thrived as Conte switched to a 3-4-3 formation and Chelsea won 13 successive Premier League games.
He scored his first Chelsea goal in the 4-0 Premier League win over Manchester United and his second in the 1-0 FA Cup quarter-final defeat of Jose Mourinho's men.
Mourinho's dream was reportedly to pair Pogba and Kante together at United, but the latter preferred Chelsea.
The self-proclaimed Special One may even go as far as to say - if Chelsea win the title - that it is his team, plus Kante, who are the champions.
Hazard, Diego Costa, Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and others have all been integral to Chelsea's challenge, but Kante even more so.
Chelsea's Premier League winning run came to an end at Tottenham in early January, but they swiftly bounced back.
They may not have done if Paris-born Kante had opted for Mali instead of France, as he would have been required for the African Nations Cup.
Leicester urged him to choose the latter and he played at Euro 2016 before moving to Chelsea three days after Conte was unveiled using one word more than any other - work.
Kante has been the heartbeat of Chelsea's success. Former Juventus and Italy midfielder Conte could see something of himself in the midfielder but says Kante is even better.
And Conte added that he would not urge Kante to rest as former Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri used to do.
Conte reckons Kante can improve by looking to pass forwards as his first option more often and by scoring more.
As always with Conte, he demands more - and hard work to achieve it.
Expect Kante to get even better.
