ESPN's Players of the Month is back to crown the standouts from Europe's top five leagues. After the format's debut in October, it's time to reveal the winners for November, a month marked by new names rising to the fore.
In LaLiga, for example, a young player from Villarreal left behind big names such as Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior and Lamine Yamal. In the Premier League, a little-known Brazilian surprised everyone, shone brightly and was the only one on the podium.
In addition, ESPN also selected the stars of Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 respectively.
How does it work?
It's quite simple: Three ESPN journalists from different countries participate for each league. Every month, each expert chooses their top three players from that league. Third place gets three points, the second gets five, and the first gets 10. So, the maximum a player can achieve is 30 points if all three select him as the best player of the month in that league.
In the case of a tie, the criterion to decide the best was the number of first-place votes.
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LIGUE 1: FLORIAN THAUVIN
Forward | Lens and France | 32 years old | 20 points
The Ligue 1 has a surprising leader: Lens. The team, coached by Pierre Sage, has 31 points in 14 games and is ahead of the powerful Paris Saint-Germain, which has one point less. No wonder the star player of November is Florian Thauvin, the No. 10 of the league's current "underdog." The second and third places are also on the team (see below). Thauvin scored 20 of the 30 possible points, being voted the best player by two of the three journalists from ESPN.
Signed by Lens in the middle of this year for around €6 million, Thauvin, 32, was a starter in the team's four games in November and scored two goals, both in the 2-1 win over Angers on the 30th, which put the team at the top of the competition. Under the leadership of the No. 10, the team won all four matches it played this month, against Lorient (3-0), AS Monaco (4-1) and Strasbourg (1-0), in addition to the aforementioned victory.
Second place:
‐ Mamadou Sangaré: MF, Lens (13 points)
Third place:
‐ Robin Risser: GK, Lens (10 points)
BUNDESLIGA: DENIZ UNDAV
Forward | Stuttgart and Germany | 29 years old | 16 points
Six goals in four games. These are the November figures for Germany's Deniz Undav, the best player of the month in the Bundesliga.
The 29-year-old striker has been on fire, even though Stuttgart has been inconsistent, with two defeats, one draw and one victory in four matches.
Undav, like Thauvin, has never played for any of the big European clubs. His last and most significant experience was at Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League, from where he transferred to his current team for €26.7m in mid-2024, after a season on loan. In total, he has scored 40 goals in 84 games for the German team.
This month, he started in Stuttgart's first three matches. He failed to score against RB Leipzig in a 3-1 defeat on Nov. 1, but took off after that, where he scored two goals in a 3-2 win over Augsburg and another three in a 3-3 draw against traditional rivals Borussia Dortmund away from home. In the last match, he started on the bench but came on to score once in the 2-1 defeat to Hamburg.
Second place:
‐ Wouter Burger: MF, Hoffenheim (13 points)
Third place:
‐ Luis Díaz: FW, Bayer Leverkusen (10 points)
SERIE A: MIKE MAIGNAN
Goalkeeper | AC Milan and France | 30 years old | 25 points
You don't have to be a striker to be the player of the month, and goalkeeper Mike Maignan is proof of that. The Milan keeper received two votes as the best player in November in Serie A and also secured another second place, totaling 25 of the 30 possible points.
The Frenchman is one of the pillars of the team that leads the league with 28 points in 13 games. In total, the team has conceded nine goals in the league. Last month, however, Maignan helped ensure that the team went unscathed and did not concede any goals, known as a clean sheet, in three of four matches.
The first was a 1-0 home win over Roma. Then came an away draw against Parma, the only team to break through the defense, in a game that ended 2-2. The last two matches were victories over rivals Internazionale, 1-0, and Lazio, by the same score.
Maignan, who came up through PSG in France, arrived at Milan in 2021 after playing for Lille, also in France. At the time, the club paid around €16.4m for the goalkeeper, who arrived to replace Gianluigi Donnarumma. Since then, he has won a Serie A title in the 2021-22 season and an Italian Supercoppa in 2024. The aim is to repeat his November performance to try to win another trophy at the end of the season.
Second place:
‐ Nico Paz: MF, Como (18 points)
Third place:
‐ Tommaso Pobega: MF, Bologna (5 points)
LALIGA: ALBERTO MOLEIRO
Attacking Midfielder | Villarreal and Spain | 22 years old | 20 points
Kylian Mbappé? Vini Jr.? Lamine Yamal? No way! The best player in November in LaLiga is Alberto Moleiro, from Villarreal. The 22-year-old beat out the big stars in the Spanish league and took the top spot on the podium in the voting of two of the three ESPN journalists, scoring 20 points.
The youngster emerged as a promising talent at Las Palmas and joined his current club at the start of this season for €16m. He has been linked with teams such as Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.
November this year was a special month for Moleiro. He started in Villarreal's four games and helped the team to four victories, scoring in three matches, putting the club in third place in the league with 32 points, behind only Barça with 37 and Real Madrid with 33. The attacking midfielder scored one goal in the 4-0 win over Rayo Vallecano and another in the 2-0 win against Espanyol. He then failed to score in the 2-1 win against Mallorca, but returned to the scoresheet, this time twice, in the 3-2 win against Real Sociedad.
As if the goals weren't enough, he also provided an assist in the first match.
Second place:
‐ Azzedine Ounahi: MF, Girona (10 points)
Third place:
‐ Lamine Yamal: FW, Barcelona (10 points)
PREMIER LEAGUE: PHIL FODEN
Manchester City and England | 25 years old | 20 points
Manchester City's homegrown talent was the standout player of the team in November, starting in all four of the team's matches and scoring two goals. Both goals came in the last match of the period, against Leeds United, in a 3-2 win. Pep Guardiola's number 47 scored in the first minute of the game, opening the scoring, which was then extended by Josko Gvardiol.
The team, however, dropped off and conceded an equalizer at home. The match would have ended that way if Foden, in stoppage time in the second half, had not made a beautiful play to secure another goal and, in a salvaging manner, ensure the three points. Previously, City had beaten Bournemouth 3-1, Liverpool 3-0, and lost to Newcastle United 2-1.
The 25-year-old attacking midfielder was voted Premier League Player of the Month for November by two of the three voting journalists, accumulating 20 points. He finished ahead of Arsenal's Declan Rice, who came second, and Igor Thiago, who completed the podium in third place. The Brazilian, who plays for Brentford, scored five goals in four games in November.
He scored twice in the 3-1 win against Newcastle, once in the 2-1 defeat to Brighton, and twice in the 3-1 win against Burnley. The only game in which he failed to score was the first of the month, a 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.
Second place:
‐ Declan Rice: MF, Arsenal (10 points)
Third place:
- Igor Thiago, FW, Brentford (10 points)