Nashville star Mukhtar wins MLS MVP after leading league in goal contributions
- Mukhtar wins MVP award
- Led league in goal contributions
- Finished ahead of Driussi and Blake
WHAT HAPPENED? Mukhtar was recognized with the award after also winning the Golden Boot this season, having scored 23 goals while providing 11 assists to lead MLS in goal contributions.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Mukhtar was a clear winner with 48 percent of the vote, with runner-up Sebastian Driussi getting just under 17 percent. Andre Blake of the Philadelphia Union came third with 7.87 percent of the vote. Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez and Cristian 'Chicho' Arango rounded out the top five vote-getters.
IN THREE PHOTOS:
THE VERDICT: The award caps a memorable season for Mukhtar, who has been among the league's top stars since his arrival in MLS. He scored or assisted on 65.4 percent of Nashville's goals in 2022, the most by a single player in MLS this season. In winning the award, he becomes the sixth European-born player to be honored as MVP and the third consecutive, following Carles Gil and Alejandro Pozuelo.
WHAT NEXT IN MLS? Mukhtar and Nashville's season came to an end with a 1-0 loss to the Galaxy in the first round of the playoffs. Those playoffs will conclude with the MLS Cup final on Saturday as the Philadelphia Union visit LAFC.