It was Nuri Sahin in the summer of 2011 and Robert Lewandowski has won it too, but now it is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's turn in the spotlight: the BVB striker has been voted the Bundesliga's best player in the first half of the 2016/17 season by 238 of his peers.

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"It's no surprise after 16 goals – some of which were wonderful – in 15 appearances in the first half of the season," wrote kicker of Aubameyang. "The Dortmund man has earned respect with his seemingly effortless marksmanship, with over one in three voting for him. In summer the league's top-scorer award beckons. It would be yet another first for the tenacious Aubameyang."

The award from his peers has been accompanied by recognition from experts. The editors of kicker magazine rated Aubameyang's performances in the first half of the campaign as "world-class", stating: "The 27-year-old has simply scored with greater consistency and stood out even more. In short: up until the winter break he was standout attacking player. The kicker rating of 2.38 in European competition speaks volumes, too: five games, four goals, one assist. Most eye-catching was his performance in Madrid, where he scored one before setting up Marco Reus beautifully as he made a sizeable contribution to BVB coming back from 2-0 down against Real Madrid to draw 2-2 and seal top spot in the group." (br)