Bundesliga Player of the Month for September: Michael Olise, Phillip Tietz, Miguel Gutiérrez, Igor Matanović, Maximilian Mittelstädt and Yannik Engelhardt the nominees
The Bundesliga is once again presenting the official Player of the Month award for the 2026/27 season. The vote has been conducted in cooperation with official licensing partner EA SPORTS since 2018/19. The nominees for September 2026 are Michael Olise, Phillip Tietz, Miguel Gutiérrez, Igor Matanović, Maximilian Mittelstädt and Yannik Engelhardt...
Vote for September's Player of the Month here!
The award consists of a two-stage process in which the performance data of the players and then the choice of the fans and experts are taken into account.
The determining factor for a matchday is the month in which its Saturday falls. September's vote covers Matchdays 2 to 4.
September nominees
Olise has set the standard in the Bundesliga this season and is attracting attention well beyond Germany. The Frenchman featured in all three of Bayern’s Bundesliga fixtures in September. The only game which he didn’t start was the 0-0 draw at FC Schalke 04. Bayern noticeably missed the genius, creativity and goal threat of “Mr. Nonchalant” as the Gelsenkirchen side sat deep and ultimately kept the champions at bay.
Olise was directly involved in four goals in September, scoring three and providing one assist. Only 1. FSV Mainz 05’s Sheraldo Becker had more goal contributions across the league, with two goals and three assists. Olise registered all four of his in Bayern’s 7-0 rout of 1. FC Union Berlin, scoring his first Bundesliga hat-trick. That night, the attacking maestro could probably have shot blindfolded and still found the net.
Olise attempted 12 shots in September, with only Harry Kane and Ibrahim Maza taking more (13 each). No Bayern player came close to matching his shooting efficiency, which stood at +1.6.
Tietz was among the names being considered for the latest Germany squad. Although he missed the cut, the Mainz striker is enjoying the best form of his career. He hasn’t missed a minute through the first four matchdays and already has four goals to his name, all of them scored in September. That puts him level at the top of the Bundesliga scoring charts alongside four other players. Over the course of September, however, no one found the net more often. “Right now, I’m very happy with my scoring record, but today my joy over the victory outweighs everything else,” he said after Mainz’s 4-3 win at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Along with Eintracht Frankfurt’s Jonathan Burkardt and Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s Patrik Schick, Tietz was one of only three players to score on all three matchdays in September. The 29-year-old attempted 11 shots during the month, converting more than one in three. His shooting efficiency of +2.0 was the best in the Bundesliga. The former Bundesliga 2 striker also excelled in one-on-one duels, leading the league for duels contested (106) and ranking third for duels won (44).
Miguel Gutiérrez (Bayer Leverkusen)
In Gutiérrez, Leverkusen appear to have found the ideal replacement for Alejandro Grimaldo. “He was always our top choice if Alejandro Grimaldo ever left. He was always our preferred option,” the club’s sporting director recently revealed. Having joined from Napoli over the summer, the attack-minded left-back has wasted little time showing why he was at the top of Leverkusen’s list.
Gutiérrez started all of Leverkusen’s Bundesliga matches in September, assisting three of their eight goals over the month. Indeed, alongside Sheraldo Becker, he was the league’s joint-leading assist provider in September. The 25-year-old also scored his first Bundesliga goal on Matchday 4, opening his account in the 2-0 win over RB Leipzig. He had already set up Schick’s opener before finding the net himself.
Gutiérrez’s deliveries are already proving to be a major weapon, just as Grimaldo’s were during his time at Leverkusen. The Spaniard was directly involved in four goals in September, scoring once and providing three assists. Only Becker had more goal contributions, with two goals and three assists.
Matanović is increasingly establishing himself as one of the Bundesliga’s leading men. The Croatia international enjoyed an impressive debut season with Freiburg, scoring 11 goals and providing two assists. He has already added three goals and one assist this term, starting all three of Freiburg’s Bundesliga matches in September and becoming the focal point of Julian Schuster’s favoured 4-2-3-1 formation.
The 23-year-old scored twice in Freiburg’s 5-0 victory over Gladbach, making him the club’s joint-top scorer for September alongside Engelhardt and Maximilian Eggestein. He could have had even more, too, with Matanović registering 11 shots on goal – more than any other Freiburg player.
Maximilian Mittelstädt (VfB Stuttgart)
After missing out on a place in Germany’s FIFA World Cup 2026 squad, Mittelstädt has delivered the perfect response on the pitch. The 29-year-old has started every game so far, impressing both at left-back and when deployed at left centre-back. He has contributed to two goals, scoring against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and providing an assist against 1. FC Köln. Only teammate Josha Vagnoman has been involved in more, with three goal contributions.
Mittelstädt created 12 shots in September – more than any other Bundesliga player – and was involved in 15 in total, the most of any Stuttgart player. He also won an impressive 69 per cent of his duels, the highest figure in the VfB squad and the eighth-best in the league. His strong start to the season duly earned him a recall to the Germany squad under new boss Klopp.
Another key figure for Freiburg is Engelhardt. The 25-year-old was a regular starter throughout September and enjoyed his first two-goal game, finding the net twice against Gladbach. In that one match, he scored as many goals as he had in his previous 33 Bundesliga appearances combined.
As mentioned above, no Freiburg player scored more than Engelhardt’s two goals in September. He attempted seven shots across the month, with almost one in three finding the back of the net. His impressive form also earned recognition from Germany head coach Jürgen Klopp, who handed the defensive midfielder his first call-up for the UEFA Nations League matches against the Netherlands, Greece and Serbia.
2025/26 Player of the Season: Michael Olise
