The French international, 30, beat off competition from Jorginho and Kevin De Bruyne after a remarkable campaign that concluded with Player of the Match performances in the semi-finals and final. The award was presented to Kanté during the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League group stage draw ceremony in Istanbul on Thursday 26 August 2021.

🥇 Magnifique. N’Golo Kanté takes the award for #UCL Midfielder of the Season! 👏👏👏#UEFAawards | #UCLdraw | @ChelseaFC pic.twitter.com/bwr5ZsfasE

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 26, 2021

The top ten

1 N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea) – 263 points
2 Kevin De Bruyne (Man. City) – 197 points
3 Jorginho (Chelsea) – 149 points
4 Ilkay Gündogan (Man. City) – 15 points
= Mason Mount (Chelsea) – 15 points
6 Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona) – 9 points
= Luka Modrić (Real Madrid) – 9 points
8 Pedri (Barcelona) – 6 points
9 Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool, now at Paris) – 5 points
= Kai Havertz (Chelsea) – 5 points