Hany Mukhtar is the most valuable player of the past season in the MLS (archive photo) Photo: dpa
From BZ/dpa
Berlin footballer Hany Mukhtar is the first German to be voted the most valuable player in Major League Soccer.
The 27-year-old Nashville SC forward received 48.03 percent of the vote, beating Austin FC’s Sebastián Driussi by a wide margin.
Mukhtar finished as the North American league’s top scorer with 23 goals, provided 11 assists and was a central player for his club Nashville SC. He was involved in 65 percent of all Nashville goals as a scorer or assist, scoring 21 of the goals in the last 22 games of the season.
“This is a huge moment for me and my family,” Mukhtar said at the awards ceremony in Nashville on Tuesday.
Mukhtar has been active in MLS since January 2020. “When I arrived here three years ago, many knew very little about football and I was hardly recognised. It’s different now,” he said. In a league with Gareth Bale, Gonzalo Higuain, Chicharito or Xherdan Shaqiri, his shirt is one of the best-selling.
In the playoffs, however, Nashville again failed earlier than hoped, in the first round there was a 0-1 loss at Los Angeles Galaxy. Mukhtar has been active in MLS since January 2020 and in April extended his contract in Nashville until at least the end of 2025. “I’m really looking forward to making history and winning titles here,” he said.
Mukhtar comes from the youth of Hertha BSC and became second division champion with the team in 2013. With Benfica Lisbon he also won the Portuguese championship, with Salzburg he became Austrian champion and cup winner and with Brondby from Copenhagen he celebrated the cup victory in Denmark.