Nashville SC midfielder Hany Mukhtar on Tuesday was named the 2022 Landon Donovan MLS MVP.

The honor came after Mukhtar won the MLS Golden Boot during his record-breaking season.

Mukhtar led the league with 34 goal contributions (23 goals, 11 assists), which was tied for the fifth most in a single season in MLS history. He scored or assisted on 65.4 percent of Nashville SC’s goals, the most by a player in MLS this season. Mikhtar helped Nashville finish fifth in the Western Conference and earn a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs.

The standout midfielder recorded 21 goals and seven assists in his final 22 games of the season, which culminated in a league-high 11 goals since the start of August. The German playmaker enjoyed a historic August, becoming the fourth player in MLS history to total at least 12 goal contributions (eight goal, four assists) in a calendar month. With Nashville fighting for a playoff spot down the stretch of the season, Mukhtar recorded 10 combined goals and assists as part of its club-record four-game winning streak from Aug. 21 to Sept. 3.

Mukhtar also has earned several other accolades since joining Nashville in 2020. That included a MLS Best XI (2021), one player of the month award and six player of the week honors.

Mukhtar became the first German-born player and the first in Nashville SC history to be named MVP. He is also the sixth European-born player to win the award since 2000 and the third consecutive after Carles Gil (2021) and Alejandro Pozuelo (2020). Mukhtar also was the fourth player in the last decade to win MVP honors and the Golden Boot in the same season.

He was the first player to lead the league in goal contributions in consecutive seasons since Sebastian Giovinco from 2015-16.

Mukhtar finished ahead of Austin FC forward Sebastián Driussi and Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Andre Blake. LA Galaxy forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernández and LAFC forward Cristian “Chicho” Arango were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the final voting results.

The MVP award has been presented since 1996 to the individual determined by a poll of players, club technical staff and the media to be the most valuable to his club.

 

PLAYER

MEDIA

CLUB

TOTAL

Mukhtar, Hany (NSH) 

29.90% 

78.00% 

36.20% 

48.03% 

Driussi, Sebastián (ATX) 

16.10% 

13.00% 

21.30% 

16.80% 

Blake, Andre (PHI) 

8.40% 

2.40% 

12.80% 

7.87% 

Hernández, Javier ‘Chicharito’ (LA) 

2.90% 

0.00% 

4.30% 

3.60% 

Arango, Cristian ‘Chicho’ (LAFC) 

5.50% 

0.80% 

4.30% 

3.53% 

A full list of previous Landon Donovan MLS MVP winners can be found below: 

Landon Donovan MLS MVP Winners 

Season 

Player 

Club 

2022 

Hany Mukhtar 

Nashville SC 

2021 

Carles Gil 

New England Revolution 

2020 

Alejandro Pozuelo 

Toronto FC 

2019 

Carlos Vela 

Los Angeles Football Club 

2018 

Josef Martínez 

Atlanta United FC 

2017 

Diego Valeri 

Portland Timbers 

2016 

David Villa 

New York City FC 

2015 

Sebastian Giovinco 

Toronto FC 

2014 

Robbie Keane 

LA Galaxy 

2013 

Mike Magee 

Chicago Fire 

2012 

Chris Wondolowski 

San Jose Earthquakes 

2011 

Dwayne De Rosario 

D.C. United 

2010 

David Ferreira 

FC Dallas 

2009 

Landon Donovan 

LA Galaxy 

2008 

Guillermo Barros Schelotto 

Columbus Crew 

2007 

Luciano Emilio 

D.C. United 

2006 

Christian Gómez 

D.C. United 

2005 

Taylor Twellman 

New England Revolution 

2004 

Amado Guevara 

MetroStars 

2003 

Preki 

Kansas City Wizards 

2002 

Carlos Ruiz 

LA Galaxy 

2001 

Alex Pineda Chacon 

Miami Fusion 

2000 

Tony Meola 

Kansas City Wizards 

1999 

Jason Kreis 

Dallas Burn 

1998 

Marco Etcheverry 

D.C. United 

1997 

Preki 

Kansas City Wizards 

1996 

Carlos Valderrama 

Tampa Bay Mutiny 

About Major League Soccer 

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.