Bayern Munich’s Leon Goretzka named Bundesliga Player of the Month

As announced on Bundesliga.com, Bayern Munich’s Leon Goretzka has been named as the league’s player of the month for January. Goretzka scored three Bundesliga goals during the month, including a brace against Hoffenheim on January 18th and one against VfB Stuttgart on January 27th to help bring home the award.

Goretzka’s competition included some well-known players from across the league:

For the first time, the Bundesliga has this season introduced an official Player of the Month award. Bayern Munich’s Leon Goretzka beat Borussia Dortmund duo Raphael Guerreiro and Lukas Piszczek, Schalke’s Daniel Caligiuri, Hertha Berlin playmaker Ondrej Duda and Mainz defender Daniel Brosinski to the January accolade.

The nominations are made by the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga in cooperation with the Bundesliga’s official partner EA SPORTS FIFA 19 and the winner is selected via a two-stage selection process in which the player’s performance data is analysed, and the votes from fans and experts are tallied.

Goretzka also talked about his preference for where he plays on the field. In lieu of a traditional “8,” which currently is not available in Niko Kovac’s double pivot, the 24-year-old has embraced his versatility and has expertly manned the “10” when called upon.

I prefer to play somewhere in between, in the number eight role. But we don’t have that in our current system, so I’m quite happy as a number ten.

As always, the @FCBayernUS Twitter account killed it with its response:

Not shockingly, Goretzka was also named as Bayern Munich’s own club player of the month as well.