Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane's stellar form has posed a conundrum for one of English football's most prestigious awards.
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Football Writers Award selects winner from English clubsEngland duo's electric form presents problemAward committee may open up eligibility(C)Getty imagesWHAT HAPPENED?
With Kane and Bellingham shredding records on a weekly basis at their new clubs, the committee in charge of the Football Writers' Association (FWA) Footballer of the Year award are considering changing the rules to make the England duo eligible.
The award, first awarded in 1948 to Blackpool's Stanley Matthews, currently chooses players that play in English football regardless of nationality. Erling Haaland was last season's recipient, winning the vote by a huge margin after his record-breaking debut season in England.
But Kane and Bellingham's exploits in the Bundesliga and La Liga have forced organisers to rethink the rules, with the FWA committee set to vote next week on whether to include English players playing overseas.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesWHAT PAUL McCARTHY SAID
Chief executive of the FWA, Paul McCarthy explained on Tuesday (via ): “Given the focus on the success of Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane in Spain and Germany it is definitely a topic that the national committee will be discussing at its next meeting on Tuesday.”
(C)GettyImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE
English footballers have been notoriously bad travellers throughout the years with just a handful of overseas forays able to be deemed an outright success. This year has proven to be a glorious exception with England's leading two talents rewriting history in Munich and Madrid. With an outstanding Premier League-based candidate yet to emerge so far this season, it stands to reason that the FWA see now as a good time to consider a change.
Barcelona's Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh and Bayern Munich's Georgia Stanway would also stand to benefit from a rule change in the women's game.
WHAT NEXT FOR KANE AND BELLINGHAM?
Kane will be seeking to add to his eye-watering 18-goal haul against free-falling Union Berlin on Saturday. His England counterpart Bellingham has a similarly enticing encounter at home to basement-dwelling Granada later on.
