Riyad Mahrez wins PFA Player of the Year award; 1st African to claim honour

One of football's most unexpected narratives has another notch in its fairytale belt, as Leicester City playmaker Riyad Mahrez was named the PFA's Player of the Year during a gala Sunday night.

The Algerian international beat out teammates N'Golo Kante and Jamie Vardy, and Arsenal's Mesut Ozil and West Ham free-kick wizard Dimitri Payet for the annual award voted on by PFA members from 100 clubs.

Mahrez, 25, has been emblematic of Leicester's rise from near-relegation to title favourite, joining the Foxes as an unknown commodity a year ago from French talent incubator Le Havre.

Related - Mahrez: From non-league reject to Player of the Year front-runner

While Kante has been the midfield anchor that breaks up imposing attacks, and Vardy the lethal finisher that has been atop the goal-scoring leaderboard much of the year, Mahrez has been the straw that stirs Claudio Ranieri's drink.

In 34 Premier League matches this season, Mahrez has 17 goals paired with 11 assists, good enough for fifth and third-best in the respective categories. He has been involved in more goals than any player in the league this season.

Mahrez's meteoric rise from France's second tier to Premier League Player of the Year has been equal parts miraculous and unprecedented; the Algerian is the first African player to capture the honour, and only the second non-European, after Luis Suarez in 2013-14.

Undersized and under-scouted, Mahrez was spotted by Leicester scout Steve Walsh and the rest is history. From the Parisian suburbs of Sarcelles to fourth division side Quimper before a Breton spell at Le Havre, Mahrez's emergence has followed a path unusual for a marquee star of the game.

With three matches to play, Leicester sits atop the Premier League table on the verge of the most storied victory since Nottingham Forest's shocking top-flight title in 1977-78.

Under contract through 2017 and with speculation surrounding a potential move to one of Europe's bigger sides, Mahrez may not call the King Power Stadium home much longer. But the 2015-16 PFA Player of the Year will forever be a Foxes legend on the heels of one of the most brilliant individual seasons in Premier League history.