It is the most prestigious award for an individual in German football. Marco Reus receives the "Footballer of the Year" title after an outstanding 2018/19 season.

Marco Reus will be the fourth Borussian, after Hans Tilkowski (1965), Matthias Sammer (1995 and 1996) and Jürgen Kohler (1997), to be voted "Footballer of the Year" by Germany's sports journalists. It is the second award of its kind for Reus, after winning it in 2012 (at that time still wearing a Borussia Mönchengladbach shirt) and, apart from Tilkowski, he is the only Dortmund-born player to be decorated as such. Similarly, Reus is one of only 15 sports figures to have received the title multiple times since it was first awarded in 1960. The record-holder is Franz Beckenbauer (4) and Germany's first "Footballer of the Year" was Uwe Seeler (1960).

"It is a special award and simply a beautiful thing that validates all the effort and hard work that has been put in. But of course, without my teammates and the team behind the scenes, none of this would have been possible - so a big thank you goes out to them," said Dortmund's captain, delighted with his newly-received prize.

21 Goals, 13 Assists

Last season, Reus racked up 17 goals and 11 assists in 27 Bundesliga appearances, making him the third-best goalscorer in the league after Robert Lewandowski (22) and Paco Alcacer (18). He added a further four goals and two assists to the tally in the Champions League and the DFB Cup. "The most important thing is to go out on the pitch and to enjoy yourself - when it goes well, it's all the more fun," says Reus with regard to his consistently good performances.

The most outstanding player of the season is recognised annually in Germany as "Footballer of the Year". Members of the Association of German Sports Journalists (Mitglieder des Verbands Deutscher Sportjournalisten, VDS) together with the sports periodical Kicker-Sportmagazin present the coveted award.