Revolution’s Carles Gil Wins MLS MVP Award for 2021

Carles Gil
Carles Gil. Photo by Anthony Nesmith/CSM/Shutterstock (10348794ao)

New England Revolution’s midfielder Carles Gil was unveiled as the recipient of the MLS Most Valuable Player award for 2021 on Tuesday. Gil received the honor after an outstanding regular season that saw him lead New England to the best record in the league.

Gil, who was sidelined for the better part of 2021 with an Achilles injury, had 24 starts this season in which he scored four times while dishing an unbelievable 18 assists. He previously also won the Comeback Player of the Year award and was named into the MLS Best IX team.

The voting committee for the MLS MVP, consisting out of media, players, and club officials, overwhelmingly leaned towards Gil and gave the 29-year-old an impressive 52 percent of the votes. Nashville SC’s midfielder Hany Mukhtar received 11.8 percent of the votes to come in second, while Seattle Sounders’ veteran Joao Paulo finished third with 4.9 percent of the votes. Sporting Kansas City’s standout striker Daniel Salloi and NYCFC’s youngster Taty Castellanos, who was the league’s best goalscorer in 2021, rounded up the top five.

Carles Gil became the second New England player to get the MVP honors after Taylor Twellman did it in 2005. He is also the third Spaniard to pick up the award, following Toronto FC’s attacking midfielder Alejandro Pozuelo and legendary striker David Villa.