Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has been named Major League Soccer’s Most Valuable Player (Landon Donovan MLS MVP) after leading Inter Miami to a record regular season points tally, despite their eventual defeat in the first round of the MLS Cup play-offs in November.
The 37-year-old former Barcelona and Paris-Saint Germain forward dominated the league’s offensive statistics, recording a league-leading 36 goal contributions during the regular season, comprised of 20 goals and 16 assists.
This achievement is particularly notable as injuries limited his involvement to only 19 regular season and two play-off appearances. The winner of the award is decided by a vote split among MLS players, club technical staff, and journalists.
Messi secured the honor with 38.43% of the total votes, narrowly beating Columbus Crew’s Cucho Hernandez, who received 33.7%. Messi now joins a list of previous recipients that includes Robbie Keane and David Villa.
