Kalchev earns the newcomer award the hard way

Pavel Kalchev is the German Players' Newcomer of the Year for 2063. No argument from this corner. The vote went to a man who does the unglamorous work and does it every week.

Twenty-three games for Hamburger SV. One goal. That line will make the highlight-watchers shrug. It should not. Kalchev is a Bulgarian international with 32 caps and seven goals for his country, and he did not come to Hamburg to fill a shirt. He came from Ludogorets Razgrad in July 2062 for £2.8m, and he has been in the side ever since. Forty-two games for HSV, seven goals. That is a player the dressing room trusts.

Anybody who saw the cup night at Heider SV knows what he can do. Three goals, two more made, 9-0. But an award is not given for one evening. It is given for turning up when the season is long and the legs are heavy. Kalchev does that. No fuss. No drama. He grafts.

The Ruhr knows that kind of player. So does Hamburg, a club that has seen the greats and knows the difference between a show pony and a worker. The players voted. They know who they want beside them in the trenches. This year they picked Kalchev.

He is 20. He has a continent's worth of respect behind him and a Bundesliga career in front of him. Hamburg paid £2.8m for him. On this evidence, they stole him. Keep the trophy polished, Pavel. You earned it the honest way.