Erling Haaland has been voted the Premier League's Player of the Month for August after a record-breaking start to the 2024-25 campaign with reigning champions Manchester City.
The Norway international has won the Golden Boot award in the last two seasons and has since made an electric start to the new campaign in front of goal.
Indeed, Haaland scored an impressive seven goals in just three appearances in August, the most a player has ever netted in a team's first three Premier League matches of a season.
After making the net ripple on the opening weekend of the campaign in a 2-0 win at Chelsea, Haaland scored successive hat-tricks in 4-1 and 3-1 victories against Ipswich Town and West Ham United respectively.
The 24-year-old became the first player to score a hat-trick in two of a team's opening three league games in a season since Paul Jewell for Bradford City in League Two back in 1994-95.
Haaland reacts to winning third POTM award
Picking up his third @EASPORTSFC Player of the Month award...
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 13, 2024
🏆 Erling Haaland 🏆 #PLAwards | @ManCity pic.twitter.com/WjM8j9FdUd
"I am delighted to have won this award so early in the season and would like to thank everyone who voted for me," Haaland told Man City's official website after receiving the POTM award for the third time, having also won it in August 2022 and April 2023.
"I am also very grateful to my teammates, the coaches and staff for helping to make it happen. August was a brilliant month for the team, and I am proud to have played an important part in that.
"To have scored seven goals last month in three matches is great, but I will continue to work hard and improve my game.
"We have given ourselves a great foundation to build on now going into a busy period with the Champions League and Carabao Cup starting. I hope I can continue to help the team get the wins and keep us pushing in all the competitions."
Haaland - who is a doubt for Saturday's clash with Brentford - fended off competition from Arsenal duo Bukayo Saka and David Raya, Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, Chelsea's Cole Palmer, Aston Villa's Amadou Onana, Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo and Brighton & Hove Albion's Danny Welbeck to win the award for August.
Hurzeler scoops record-breaking MOTM award
What a #PL debut month. 😉 Congratulations, Fabian! 👏 pic.twitter.com/Caet7UdK6h
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) September 13, 2024
Meanwhile, Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler has been named the Premier League's Manager of the Month for August after overseeing an excellent start in charge of the Seagulls.
Hurzeler's side ended August sitting second in the Premier League table - now third following Liverpool's win at Manchester United on September 1 - after accumulating seven points from three matches.
Brighton cruised to a 3-0 opening win at Everton and secured a last-gap 2-1 triumph at home to Man United before claiming a point in a 1-1 draw with 10-man Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
"It's always a nice trophy [to win] as it confirms your work. Not only my work but the work from the whole club, my staff members, the players," said Hurzeler after receiving the award for the first time.
"It's togetherness to win this trophy. Now it's about winning the next one!"
At the age of just 31, Hurzeler is the youngest permanent head coach in Premier League history and now the youngest to win a Manager of the Month award.
The German, who succeeded Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton in the summer, is the first person to win a Manager of the Month award in his first month as a Premier League boss since Ange Postecoglou achieved the feat with Tottenham Hotspur in August last year.
In addition, Hurzeler is the first Brighton manager to claim the MOTM prize since Chris Hughton won the award in February 2018, after beating fellow nominees Mikel Arteta, Pep Guardiola and Arne Slot.
Oliver Thomas
