Liverpool winger Sadio Mané has been named in the 2016-17 PFA Team of the Year in recognition of his sensational first season on Merseyside.

Since signing from Southampton in a £30 million deal last summer, the Senegal international has racked up 13 goals and five assists in 27 appearances in the Premier League at Anfield.

The 25-year-old's maiden season was ended early by a knee injury sustained in the 3-1 win over Everton in the Merseyside Derby at the start of April, though his displays - and how important he has proved to the Reds - have earned him deserved acclaim.

This year's Team of the Year consists of four Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea players apiece in a London-dominated XI. 

Those eight are joined by Mané, Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea and Everton's Romelu Lukaku - the Premier League's top goalscorer on 24.

Mané is the first Liverpool player to be in the team since team-mate Philippe Coutinho in the 2014-15, following on from 2013-14 when the Reds had all of Steven GerrardLuis Suárez and Daniel Sturridge included.

Yet despite making up one of the 11, Mané was not one of six players nominated for the PFA Player of the Year.

Chelsea duo Eden Hazard and N'Golo Kanté, Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimović, Arsenal forward Alexis Sánchez, Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur and Lukaku are all in the running.

Ibrahimović and Sánchez, despite making the shortlist for the individual prize, were controversially left out of the Team of the Year. 

Both awards are voted for by PFA members from Premier League and Football League clubs.

The Players' Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year will be announced at the PFA Awards in London Sunday April 23.

Full PFA 2017 Team of the Year

David de Gea

Kyle Walker - David Luiz - Gary Cahill - Danny Rose

Sadio Mané - N'Golo Kanté - Dele Alli - Eden Hazard

Harry Kane - Romelu Lukaku

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About the author
Charlie Malam
Digital Sports Writer at the Daily Express. First-class Staffordshire University Sports Journalism graduate. Formerly VAVEL UK's Liverpool FC editor and Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Contributor since June 2014.