Christopher Nkunku of RB Leipzig Getty Images

Nkunku beats Lewandowski to be named Bundesliga player of the season for 2021-22

Christopher Nkunku has beaten Robert Lewandowski to be named the 2021-22 Bundesliga player of the season, with the RB Leipzig star edging out the Bayern Munich forward.

Nkunku, who won four Player of the Month awards during a glittering league campaign, also saw off Manchester City-bound Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland for the top prize.

The award, first handed out for the 2018-19 campaign, is decided via the Bundesliga's team of the season fan votes, as well as clubs and a panel of experts.

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What has Nkunku achieved this season?

With 20 goals in 34 games and an additional 37 assists to boot, few can argue that the Frenchman is a worthy winner of the Bundesliga's top individual honour this term.

It marked a dramatic improvement on total involvements from his past two campaigns, with 33 against 20 in 2019-20 and 13 in 2020-21 respectively, while he helped Leipzig turn a shocking start to the season around with a Champions League qualification finish.

That rich form saw him handed a call-up to Les Bleus during the March international break and likely makes him a lock for Didier Deschamps' side at the Qatar 2022 World Cup later this year.

How does Nkunku compare to Lewandowski?

Arguably the 24-year-old's only serious rival for the honour would have been Bayern veteran Lewandowski, in what could well be the prolific striker's final season in the Bundesliga.

The Poland international - snubbed for the Ballon d'Or the past two years despite achieving record-breaking feats for his club - is the only player to have nabbed more overall goal involvements than Nkunku this term.

Yet he could not match Nkunku's own record of four Player of the Month awards in a single season, marking out the latter as a prolific talent across the league.

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