Kevin De Bruyne picked rival to win PFA Player of the Year award after he leaked votes on camera

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne was widely praised for his decision to recognise a rival ahead of the PFA Player of the Year awards.

In the build-up to the 45th edition of the annual ceremony in London, De Bruyne was a heavy favourite to win the individual prize.

He went on to play an instrumental role for Pep Guardiola's side as they secured a historic 100-point haul, recording eight goals and 16 assists.

City secured their third Premier League title and De Bruyne was arguably at the peak of his powers, but the Belgian was pipped to the post by Mohamed Salah, who enjoyed a debut season to remember at Liverpool.

Still, the midfielder was keen to praise his rival. In fact, during an interview with TNT Sports, De Bruyne was happy to share his votes with presenter Des Kelly.

"I voted for Salah. He deserves it. If it's no-one from our team, I think he deserves it," the Belgian said. "I don't look at what happened before, I wouldn't know how to choose anybody else, outside of Salah, if it's not our team."

He added: "I'm fair. If he wins, he wins. I think he's up there with Kane, me, and Silva, they're the four best players of this year, constantly.

"I'm honest about voting. I vote for him if he deserves it. If other people don't do it, I don't mind."

You can see that moment below:

"If he wins, he wins. I think he's up there with Kane, Me, and David, the four best players of this year."

Kevin De Bruyne voted for Mo Salah to win POTY, and he even showed @DesKellyBTS the proof 😂#NoFilterUCL

⚽ Liverpool vs Man City
📺 BT Sport 2 HD
⏰ 6.30pm pic.twitter.com/LvpXnTtCDl

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 4, 2018

Pep Guardiola, on the other hand, made his feelings clear after he was asked about the prospect of De Bruyne missing out on the prize.

"I know my opinion about these awards,” he said. "If he doesn’t win, congratulations to the guy who is going to win, but from my point of view when you are analysing [the last] nine or ten months, there was no player better than him, in terms of the continuity, in terms of being there every three days of all competitions.”

Guardiola's wasn't done there. “I am sorry,” he added. “Maybe in numbers there are guys better than him, but no [there is no better] player in this season. For me he was the best, but it is my opinion but the opinions of the players could be different.

“I would like to feel that he [De Bruyne] deserves it but at the end [of the season], in the summer time, he will be at home, being a champion.”

Salah, who had scored 31 goals in 33 Premier League games when the ceremony took place, beat De Bruyne, Harry Kane and David Silva to the award.