Manolo Gabbiadini has been nominated for the Premier League PFA Fans’ Player of the Month for February, after a hitting the ground running in England.
The Southampton striker has been nothing short of exceptional in his opening matches for the club, and could be set to be rewarded for his fine start.
Signing of the season?
Gabbiadini's Southampton career is still very much in its infancy, but he is already supremely popular around St Mary's, and rightly so. After signing for the Saints on deadline day of the January transfer window, it took the Italian less than twelve minutes to make his mark, as he scored on debut against West Ham with an emphatic strike.
A week later, Gabbiadini continued to win over the Southampton faithful, netting twice in the 4-0 demolition of Sunderland. Since that victory a month ago, the Saints have played just twice more, but that was more than enough time for the 25-year-old to grab another three goals.
Firstly, he truly announced himself to the English public with a phenomenal brace in the EFL Cup final against Manchester United, and only an inexcusable offside call prevented him from a historic hat-trick. Even though Southampton went down 3-2, it was now clear that they had unearthed a lethal finisher.
Yet despite the added pressure, Gabbiadini's hot streak has shown no sign of cooling off. While he could only manage a single goal last weekend at Watford, it was a crucial one, giving the Saints a lead they would not relinquish.
All in all, with six goals in four games, there is simply no way of putting into words the impact that the unknown Italian has had on Southampton. Claude Puel's side have been crying out for a goal-scorer all season and, at long last, they seem to have found their man.
Illustrious company
While Gabbiadini's instant impact has been quite simply ridiculous, the chances of him winning the player of the month award are very slim. Southampton only played two league games in February, one less than most, making it very difficult for their new star man to lay claim to the accolade, even though he scored three times in those matches.
In addition, the award is voted for by the fans, and while this seems like a great idea in theory, it is significantly flawed in practice. So far this season, a player from a club with the highest number of supporters (namely those in the top six or seven of the league) has come out on top each month in the voting. With other nominations this time around including Tottenham’s Harry Kane, Everton’s Romelu Lukaku, Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus and Manchester United’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan, this trend doesn't look set to change.
While the players at the clubs near the summit of the Premier League perhaps deserve this advantage when it comes to fan voting, it more often than not rules out the chance of a slightly less fashionable club's player winning the award, whether he deserves it or not.
The final push
Regardless of whether Gabbiadini does win player of the month, it is vital for Southampton that he continues his exceptional form. As touched on already, the Saints' main problem this season has been putting the ball in the back of the net, and so a player of his calibre in front of goal is like gold dust.
Puel's men currently sit tenth in the Premier League but, albeit unlikely, they have every chance to sneak into a European place, should Gabbiadini keep his run going.