New Delhi, Sep 12 : Everton's Jack Grealish has been awarded the Premier League's Player of the Month for August. The attacking midfielder, who celebrated his 30th birthday earlier this week, came out on top following a combination of a fan vote and votes from a panel of football experts.

He was presented his prize by Evertonian content creator Andy Castell at Finch Farm after beating competition from an eight-man shortlist that included Riccardo Calafiori, Hugo Ekitike, Marc Guehi, Erling Haaland, Joao Pedro, Antoine Semenyo and Dominik Szoboszlai.

Grealish had a stunning debut month for Everton after joining on loan from Manchester City in the summer. Grealish, who turned 30 this week, led the Premier League for assists in August, with his total of four being double that of any other player in the competition.

Indeed, Grealish's four assists came in just two matches, as he set up both goals as Everton beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 in their first match at Hill Dickinson Stadium, before creating two more goals in Everton's following match, a 3-2 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers that put the Toffees fifth in the table.

He became the first Everton player to ever record multiple assists in consecutive Premier League matches, while in Matchweek 4, when he plays at home against former club Aston Villa, he has the chance to be the first player in Premier League history to assist two or more goals in three consecutive appearances.

Grealish is the first Everton player to claim the Player of the Month prize since Dominic Calvert-Lewin in September 2020.

Everton head coach David Moyes summed up his sentiments regarding Grealish's outstanding performances in the two games by saying the English forward is even better than what he had expected.

"There's a wee bit to prove, I'm sure, I think we all have. I think in life, you've always got something you have to strive to do. And I think Jack wants to show that he's a good player. I think he's showing it at the moment.

"I think some of his football has been really good. The biggest compliment I could probably give him is he's better than I thought he was. You know, he's so good. I think what Jack gives us is something just on the edge, which, hopefully it's on the edge of creativeness and maybe scoring goals,' said Moyes.

/IANS