Bayern Star Leon Goretzka Named Bundesliga Player of the Month for January

Bayern Munich midfielder Leon Goretzka has been named as the Bundesliga Player of the Month for January, wrestling control of the award away from Marco Reus.

Reus won the award for both November and December, but it is Goretzka who takes the award for January, capping off a stellar month for the 24-year-old.

The Bundesliga confirmed the news on their official website, with Goretzka beating Borussia Dortmund pair Raphael Guerreiro and Lukasz Piszczek, Schalke's Daniel Caligiuri, Hertha Berlin midfielder Ondrej Duda and Mainz defender Daniel Brosinski to the award.

They wrote: "It's easy to see why Leon Goretzka topped the list of six candidates: with three goals, the Bayern Munich midfielder is January's top-scorer. 

"The Germany international scored both on Matchday 18 against Hoffenheim and a week later against VfB Stuttgart, ensuring he is now Bayern's second highest scorer in 2018/19 behind Robert Lewandowski, with more goals even than his more attack-minded teammates Thomas Müller, Franck Ribery or Arjen Robben.

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"One of the reasons for this newfound goalscoring threat is undoubtedly his move into a new role as a number ten, which Goretzka fulfilled for the first two games of 2019 in January. 

"In this position behind the striker, the 24-year-old has been able to employ his goalscoring instincts much better than he could as a more defensive-minded number six, where he made most of his appearances in the first half of the season."

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Goretzka's form has been instrumental in keeping Bayern in pursuit of league-leaders Dortmund. Die Roten are now just five points behind their rivals, and they will certainly be keen to maintain their form as they seek to close the gap on Dortmund.