Patrik Schick is Bundesliga Player of the Month for December

The video game manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA) in association with the German football league (DFL) announced the six nominations for the vote a few weeks ago. Werkself striker Patrik Schick came out on top against prestigious opposition in the month of December: Robert Lewandowski, Serge Gnabry (both Bayern Munich), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig), Jesper Lindström (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Nico Schlotterbeck (SC Freiburg) were all nominated in addition to the Czech Republic international.

Schick's Historic four-goal haul

The Werkself number 14 scored an impressive eight goals in the four Bundesliga matches in the month, including his contribution as the first Werkself player ever to score four goals in Germany's top flight in the 7-1 victory over Greuther Fürth. Schick scored the other goals – two braces – against Eintracht Frankfurt (2-5) and TSG Hoffenheim (2-2).

Entitled to vote were the team captains of the 18 Bundesliga clubs (30% of the vote), a selected panel of pundits consisting of Bundesliga legends and media representatives (30%) plus fans from across the world with the biggest share of the vote (40%). Fans submitted their votes via the EA SPORTS FIFA 19 Website and were able to choose the performances of the Bundesliga players that most impressed them in that month.

predecessors in black and red

Youngster Florian Wirtz won the vote for Player of the Month in September. The Werkself are the first team to have two winners in the current 2021/22 season.

The official award has been presented since the 2018/19 season. Schick's trophy is already the sixth to make its way to Leverkusen.

All  Bayer 04 Players of the Month to date:

• February 2019: Julian Brandt
• April 2019: Kai Havertz
• May 2019: Kai Havertz
• May 2020: Kai Havertz
• September 2021: Florian Wirtz
• December 2021: Patrik Schick