"First nomination, first win"… Klimala wins Player of the Month, 11 points ahead of second place

FC Seoul's Klimala won the K League Player of the Month award for September 2026. Klimala topped the rankings with 38.60 points in the month of the first nomination, finishing 11.05 points ahead of second-place Italo.

Translated from Korean with AI assistance. Read the original. Sources and original publication dates are retained.

Three-line summary

The Korea Professional Football League announced on October 15 that FC Seoul's Klimala is the winner of the September Player of the Month award.
Klimala earned a final converted score of 38.60 points, beating second-place Jeju's Italo (27.55 points) by 11.05 points.
Klimala played in all four of Seoul's matches during the evaluation period, scoring 3 goals, and was also named Round 29 MVP for the multi-goal performance against Jeonbuk.

The 11.05-point margin is the gap between Klimala and second place. Klimala scored 38.60 points, while Italo had 27.55 points. The gap between second place and third-place Lee Myung-jae (24.67 points) was 2.88 points, so it was effectively a runaway. Looking at the record makes it even more striking. This was the first time Klimala had been nominated for this award. Klimala took the trophy in the very month of the first nomination.

Klimala wins Player of the Month after 4 games and 3 goals, topping the vote in the first nomination

Yonhap News reports that the league announced on October 15 that "Klimala won the EA Sports 'Player of the Month' award for September of the 2026 season." It is the first win of the K League Player of the Month award. The player's own reaction to the award has not yet been confirmed.

The basis for the award is 4 games, 3 goals. Klimala played in all four of Seoul's matches during the evaluation period. The most decisive match was the Round 29 match against Jeonbuk. Newspim reported that Klimala scored two goals in the match to lead Seoul to a 2-1 win, and that the performance earned the Round MVP award. In the end, two of the three goals came in that single match.

Final converted scores for the September Player of the Month award (announced 2026.10.15)

Rank	Player	Club	Converted score (points)
1	Klimala	FC Seoul	38.60
2	Italo	Jeju	27.55
3	Lee Myung-jae	Daejeon	24.67
4	Lee Yu-hyeon	Gangwon	9.18

Second-place Italo is a 190cm defensive midfielder from Brazil. This was also Italo's first nomination, and during the same period Italo recorded 2 goals and 1 assist in 4 games. Italo's winning goal against Gangwon in Round 30 earned the Round MVP award.

Klimala, 28, from a 3.5 million-pound Celtic transfer to No. 9 at Seoul

Klimala was born on August 5, 1998, and is a 28-year-old Polish striker. Klimala wears No. 9 for Seoul. When Klimala moved from Jagiellonia to Celtic in January 2020, British media including The Scotsman, among others, reported the transfer fee as 3.5 million pounds. The club did not disclose the amount. At Celtic, Klimala tasted success with the 2019-20 Scottish Cup title.

The career path has not been smooth since. Stints at New York Red Bulls, Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Śląsk Wrocław followed, and during a loan spell at Sydney FC, 31 games produced 17 goals. Klimala joined Seoul on a permanent transfer on June 2, 2025. This season's record stands at 28 games, 14 goals and 1 assist. By Yonhap News' tally, Klimala ranks second in league scoring (as of 15:00 on 2026.10.15) and is averaging 0.50 goals per game.

Selection method: TSG 60%, fans 25%; prize amount undisclosed

Matches under review were K League 1 Rounds 27-30 and the postponed Round 22 matches of Gangwon and Incheon. The weighting was: the league's TSG technical committee vote 60%, fan vote 25%, and FC Online user vote 15%. Reports differed on how fans could vote, citing either the official app 'Kick' or the official website depending on the outlet, but all reports gave the same weighting for the votes. Sports Kyunghyang reports that the winner receives a trophy and a cash prize, and wears a patch for this award on the season uniform. For the rest of the season, a Player of the Month patch will be attached to Klimala's uniform, and the trophy will be delivered. The prize amount has not been confirmed.

The league announced the award on October 15, but the date of an in-person ceremony and whether the trophy has been handed over have not yet been confirmed. This award announcement was confirmed through reports from several outlets quoting the league's announcement, and the original text from the league's website was not obtained.

Frequently asked questions

Q. How old is Klimala?

Klimala was born on August 5, 1998, and as of October 15, 2026, is 28 years old. Klimala is Polish, and the position is striker.

Q. What was Klimala's score for the Player of the Month award?

The final converted score was 38.60 points, 11.05 points higher than second-place Italo (27.55 points).

Q. How is the K League Player of the Month award chosen?

The winner is determined by adding together the league's TSG technical committee vote (60%), fan vote (25%), and FC Online user vote (15%), based on matches from the relevant period.

Related official sites

K League official website — You can check league schedules and official announcements
K League Klimala official player record — You can view appearance and goal records by season
K League official player rankings — You can view the latest scoring rankings

Representative image · Archival photo · Not an on-site photo of the match in the article · Photo=Wikimedia Commons (Exj), CC BY-SA 4.0