In the poll conducted by sports magazine Kicker, Mario Gomez received 196 votes. The striker from VfB Stuttgart came out ahead of Werder Bremen playmaker Diego with 175 votes and Bayer Leverkusen's midfielder Bernd Schneider, who received 156 votes.

Gomez is the first Stuttgart player to win the prestigious award since Jürgen Klinsmann took home the honor in 1988. The 22-year old scored 14 goals as Stuttgart stole the 2007 title from Schalke 04 in the final two rounds.

"This is a big honor for me," said Gomez.

Stuttgart opens the new season on Friday against runners-up Schalke 04.

Armin Veh, also from Stuttgart, was named coach of the year.

Veh got a big win among the coaches with 449 votes, ahead of Hans Meyer from cup winners Nuremberg with 221 votes.

Top honors in the women's poll went to Birgit Prinz for the seventh straight year.