Olivier Giroud 's Barclays Premier League player of the month award makes the French the league 's outright most successful foreign nationality , with the Arsenal striker becoming France 's 16th winner of the accolade . Giroud netted five times in Arsenal 's four consecutive league wins last month as Arsene Wenger 's side took all 12 points on offer to claim the award for March . And in doing so he joined a long list of his compatriots to be ranked as a month 's best player in the English top flight , alongside the likes of Thierry Henry , Eric Cantona and Nicolas Anelka . Olivier Giroud won the Barclays Premier League player of the month award for March after his run of form . Thierry Henry collects the award for April before a match at Highbury in May 2000 , one of four wins for him . David Ginola was the first French winner of the award , claiming it while at Newcastle in August 1995 . August 1995 : David Ginola , Newcastle . March 1996 : Eric Cantona , Manchester United . April 1998 : Emmanuel Petit , Arsenal . December 1998 : David Ginola , Tottenham . February 1999 : Nicolas Anelka , Arsenal . April 2000 : Thierry Henry , Arsenal . August 2001 : Louis Saha , Fulham . August 2002 : Sylvain Wiltord , Arsenal . September 2002 : Thierry Henry , Arsenal . February 2003 : Robert Pires , Arsenal . January 2004 : Thierry Henry , Arsenal . April 2004 : Thierry Henry , Arsenal . November 2008 : Nicolas Anelka , Chelsea . March 2010 : Florent Malouda , Chelsea . December 2010 : Samir Nasri , Arsenal . March 2015 : Olivier Giroud , Arsenal . Giroud 's prize sees his country edge out Holland as the most successful nation in terms of player of the month awards , beaten only by the native English on home territory . Much of that success comes down to Giroud 's club , Arsenal . They have provided 10 French winners with Henry , Anelka , Emmanuel Petit , Sylvain Wiltord , Robert Pires and Samir Nasri have all won it while in north London . Former Arsenal striker Henry is the top Frenchman was four awards , trailing only Steven Gerrard ( on six ) , Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer ( both five ) , and sitting in good company , level with Cristiano Ronaldo , Dennis Bergkamp , Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes . ' I 'm really pleased with it , ' Giroud told Arsenal 's official website after winning the March prize . ' I would like to thank my team-mates and of course the fans , because it 's a collective sport and I could n't do it on my own . 'It 's a great honour to have been selected as Player of the Month , especially because we wanted to bounce back from the Champions League disappointment . Manchester United 's French forward Eric Cantona was named player of the month in March 1996 . Emmanuel Petit is pictured with another Frenchman , Arsene Wenger . He won the award in April 1998 . Nicolas Anelka won the award twice : with Arsenal in February 1999 and then with Chelsea in 2008 . Louis Saha 's performances for Fulham saw him crowned as the month 's best player in August 2001 . England - 88 . France - 16 . Holland - 15 . Spain - 8 . Republic of Ireland , Wales - 6 . Portugal - 5 . Argentina , Nigeria - 4 . Brazil , Italy , Scotland , Trinidad and Tobago - 3 . Belgium , Bulgaria , Czech Republic , Finland , Ghana , Russia , Senegal , Sweden , Uruguay - 2 . Australia , Austria , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Costa Rica , Croatia , Germany , Iceland , Jamaica , Paraguay , Serbia , Turkey - 1 . 'That 's what we 've done and we 've come back really strongly . We all want to finish strongly and this award will give me more confidence for the following games . ' Giroud averaged a goal every 72 minutes throughout March , and his excellent levels of performance are no change for the French on English shores . Aside from the Arsenal contributions , Ginola , Louis Saha , Anelka ( for Chelsea ) and Florent Malouda have all been named as the player of the month at some point during their spells in England . Spanish , Irish , Welsh , Portuguese , Argentine and Nigerian players have all done well too , but every country aside from England and Holland have , at most , half the number France have . And to make the point of their dominance even more , look to European rivals Germany . They have had just one winner , the first : Jurgen Klinsmann in 1994 . Sylvain Wiltord 's early season form saw him claim the player of the month prize in August 2002 for Arsenal . Another Frenchman playing for Arsenal , Robert Pires , was a winner in February 2003 at Highbury . Florent Malouda was the second of two French winners coming from Chelsea when he won in March 2010 . Samir Nasri 's time at Arsenal ended acrimoniously but he was the player of the month in December 2010 .
Nicolas Anelka won March 's Premier League player of the month award . He is the 16th French winner of the top flight 's monthly accolade . France are the award 's most successful foreign nation ahead of Holland . Eric Cantona , Thierry Henry and Olivier Giroud have all won the prize .