Los Angeles FC’s prolific forward Carlos Vela has won the 2019 Major League Soccer Most Valuable Player Award, beating out LA rival Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the league’s most prestigious individual trophy.
Vela had one of the greatest seasons in the history of the league, scoring 34 goals and recording 15 assists in 31 games played. The Mexican forward was the top scorer in the league as well as the player who provided the third-most assists.
Ibrahimovic, the flamboyant Swede who was his main competition for the honor, recorded 30 goals and 6 assists in 2019.
Vela, the Mexican national team mainstay and former Arsenal and Real Sociedad player, joined LAFC prior to the 2018 season and has shined in his tenure in the North American league.
It can’t be said that Vela wasn’t looking to win this award. Before the season, he was quoted as saying, “I’m working to be the MVP of the league. If I want to do that, I have to show every game how good I am.”
Vela did just that in an outstanding 2019 season that will go down in the history books as one of the greatest seasons that North American professional soccer has seen and will ever see.
