Former Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm has been named the German Footballer of the Year for 2017.
Lahm retired in May after winning eight Bundesliga titles, six DFB-Pokal crowns, one Champions League and the 2014 World Cup in an extraordinarily distinguished career.
The defender’s roll of honour includes being added to Bayern’s Hall of Fame, while he was voted Footballer of the Year after leading the club to another league title last season. German sport journalists voted Lahm the clear winner of the award, with Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos in second and Borussia Dortmund’s 31-goal Bundesliga top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang finishing third.
Lahm succeeds his Bayern colleague Jerome Boateng in taking his first German Footballer of the Year award, having previously finished second and third in the voting. “It’s a real honour and I’m truly pleased with it. I think the journalists in the vote have watched me for my entire career,” said Lahm.
“History shows that it is incredibly tough for a defender to be named Footballer of the Year because over the course of a year there is normally always a forward who steals the headlines up front.”
Julian Nagelsmann was awarded the German Manager of the Year prize after the 30-year-old led Hoffenheim to Champions League qualification for the first time in the club’s history.
