Bundesliga
This season, the Bundesliga is again honouring its best young stars with the Rookie of the Month award presented by Sorare. Ibrahim Maza of Bayer Leverkusen has beaten off competition from RB Leipzig's Yan Diomande and VfB Stuttgart's Bilal El Khannouss to take the prize for November.
November winner
Ibrahim Maza (Bayer Leverkusen)
Maza was on the radar of many top clubs after his impressive return of seven goals and five assists for Hertha Berlin in Bundesliga 2 last season. It was Leverkusen who won the race for the talented German-Algerian, who has already proven he has the required quality at the BayArena. He crowned November with his first Bundesliga goals, bagging a brace against Heidenheim. Patrik Schick and Jonas Hofmann were the only other Leverkusen players to score two league goals last month.
Head coach Kasper Hjulmand was full of praise for the 20-year-old after that 6-0 win over Heidenheim, enthusing, “Ibo is a super learner. He learns very quickly and works very hard. His personality makes him stand out.” Maza, who is naturally a No.10 but has been used more as a central midfielder of late, played in all four matches in November, including three straight starts, having only ever made two in the Bundesliga prior to last month.
The Algeria international provided his first assist in the top flight in the 2-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund, meaning he had a direct hand in three league goals in November to top the club charts alongside Schick and Edmond Tapsoba. Maza also contested the most duels among Werkself players over the last four matchdays (70) and won a solid 61 percent of them.
November's other nominees
“We’ve managed to sign an absolute top talent with Yan,” said Leipzig’s managing director Marcel Schäfer upon announcing the transfer of the winger from Spanish second division side Leganés in July. The first third of the season has showed that Diomande is more than meeting expectations. The 19-year-old already has four goals and three assists to his name across 13 competitive appearances for his new club.
Diomande has earned himself a starting spot in Ole Werner’s settled team, getting the nod in all four games in November and playing the full 90 minutes twice. He scored as second beat third in the 3-1 win over VfB Stuttgart and then again in the following defeat by the same scoreline at Hoffenheim to be Leipzig’s outright top scorer in November. The Ivorian also set up Jeff Chabot’s own goal against Stuttgart.
Diomande hasn’t just made his mark in front of goal but also in Leipzig’s general play. The winger contested 108 duels in November – the most of any player in the Bundesliga – and came out with the ball in over half of them (57 percent).
Bilal El Khannouss (VfB Stuttgart)
El Khannouss was a deadline day signing from Leicester City in September, with Stuttgart having the option of making it a permanent move in the summer. Based on what we’ve seen so far, they will definitely be considering the prospect, given the Morocco international’s record of five goals and four assists in his first 16 competitive outings for the Bundesliga club.
Coach Sebastian Hoeneß started the attacking midfielder in all four Bundesliga matches in November, in which El Khannouss provided a team-leading two assists. His 10 shots created last month was also a club best alongside Angelo Stiller. Add in eight attempts on goal of his own and only Deniz Undav either took or set up more shots for Stuttgart over the last four league games (20).
“He’s technically good, agile, has a super first touch and is two-footed. And what he didn’t really show last year is his goal theat. He’s now providing a really good return,” said a very pleased Hoeneß of the 21-year-old after the 1-0 win over Heidenheim.
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Previous winners
October 2025
September 2025
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How it works
The Bundesliga will once again present the Rookie of the Month award to the best young talents in the 2025/26 season. Votes are cast not only by fans, but also by clubs and selected Bundesliga experts.
Vote weighting
Criteria
For a player to be classified as a rookie, certain requirements must be met. They must be under 23 years old on the first matchday of the season and must not have been in a starting line-up in any previous Bundesliga season. Furthermore, players must not have accumulated more than 450 minutes of playing time in the Bundesliga before the start of the current campaign.
This means that young talents who have only previously made brief appearances and have not yet had the opportunity to fully showcase their skill have the chance to be crowned Rookie of the Month. The monthly winners also receive a prestigious Bundesliga trophy and have the chance to defend their title the following month.
At the end of the season, the Rookie of the Season is chosen from the selection of monthly winners.