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.
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.
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:
Harry Gniech was born on 14 October 1951 in Leverkusen-Schlebusch. At the age of six, he joined SV Bayer 04, initially in the athletics section. The boy actually wanted to play football, but was only allowed to switch to the football team when he turned nine. Harry quickly established himself as a playmaker in midfield. Despite his talent, the path from the youth team to the first-team squad was a long one back then. In the 1973–74 season, his former U19 coach, Friedhelm Renno – who was by then in charge of Bayer 04’s first team – selected him for his first match with the professional squad.
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Henrique Adriano Buss, known as Henrique, was born on 14 October 1986 in Marechal Cândido Rondon, a town in the Brazilian state of Paraná. At the age of 13, he joined Coritiba FC and made the step up to the first team in 2006. Henrique helped the team gain promotion to the Brazilian top flight and then moved on to Palmeiras FC. After just five matches for his new club, the 1.85-metre-tall centre-back was signed by Barcelona in 2008 for ten million euros and loaned to Bayer 04 for one year for a fee of €400,000.
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Constant Djakpa was born on 17 October 1986 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He started playing football at the age of five. He took his first steps in professional football at Stella Club d’Adjamé, before moving on to Sogndal IL in Norway. His path eventually led him to Germany via the Romanian club Pandurii Târgu Jiu.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 from the month of October. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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In the first week of October 1966, professional footballers decided to take an unusual step – they went on strike. They felt compelled to resort to this action, which was relatively uncommon until then, to give greater weight to their demands for fair pay. They reasoned that, with three draws, they were entitled to a bonus; at the very least, a points bonus of 75 Deutschmarks that was agreed before the start of the season.
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