‘Are you having a laugh?’ Fans claim Kane was robbed, taunt Man. City as Ruben Dias wins Premier League Player of the Season award

Man City's Ruben Dias has been named the Premier League Player of the Season – but many fans have been baffled by the defender beating England's Harry Kane to the award after the Spurs hitman was involved in a staggering 37 goals.

The annual award almost always proves contentious, although there is little debate that Dias has had an outstanding season following his move from Benfica last summer, helping City storm to the Premier League title and win the League Cup, securing clean sheets in 15 of Dias's 32 appearances.

Kane was involved in far more goals than any other player, scoring 23 times to finish top of the scoring charts while providing 14 assists – a tally that put him seven goal involvements clear of Manchester United playmaker Bruno Fernandes and ten ahead of former Golden Boot winner Mohamed Salah and talismanic Tottenham teammate Son Heung-min.

"How the f*ck did he win it over Bruno, Kane and [Paul] Pogba?" asked one stunned supporter as the news of Dias's win broke, while another boggled: "Kane gets golden boot and top assists. What’s wrong with people?"

Others pointed out that Kane performed his heroics in a far weaker team than Dias dazzled in, firing his huge total for a Spurs side that finished seventh, including a second half of the season that was sufficiently dreadful to bring the axe down on embattled boss Jose Mourinho.

At 24, some suggested that Dias could have been named as the Young Player of the Year. "Kane deserved it the most," argued one budding analyst.

"Especially when you consider how efficient and productive he was in comparison to how many touches he averaged per game."

France and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry is the only player to have topped the Premier League scoring ranks while equaling Kane's assists record this season, but that wasn't enough to persuade a panel of former players, journalists and corporate representatives, including the likes of Champions League winner Rio Ferdinand and top-flight icon Alan Shearer.

“He is a bit of a throwback, to be honest," pundit and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher explained of his selection of Dias, admitting he had been partly swayed by nostalgia for his own no-nonsense approach during his long Premier League career. "He loves defending, loves making blocks.

"Now we see a lot of defenders who want to get on the ball, and he can do that and that’s the way the game is going. But sometimes it is nice to see someone who takes you back to yourself when you were playing.

"It's how we used to associate defenders 10 or 15 years ago in the Premier League: making sure you’ve got your clean sheets, being very aggressive. He is always side-on, always on the front foot looking to engage with people.

"And because of his age, there is still improvement for him to make. He has made a brilliant start to his Premier League career and I am sure there is more to come."

Carragher and his fellow assessors cast their votes on a shortlist that included Kane, Fernandes, Salah, Aston Villa's Jack Grealish, Chelsea's Mason Mount, West Ham's Thomas Soucek and City star Kevin De Bruyne.

Despite his latest honor after winning the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year and City Player of the Season, one piece of silverware that he missed out on will undoubtedly still hurt Dias.

"Didn’t announce himself to Kai Havertz," mocked one fan, gleefully referencing the Germany prodigy's goal that gave Chelsea victory and denied Dias and City their first ever Champions League title last Saturday.