1 week ago
14
49.32% of the vote
©TM/IMAGO
It is an incredible result. LAFC forward Heung-min Son has done the unthinkable to win the Major League Soccer Transfermarkt Player of the Season Award. The 33-year-old South Korean forward beat out Inter Miami CF superstar Lionel Messi. The two finished first and second in a popular vote among all Transfermarkt users. Son ended up with 49.32% of the votes, while Messi received 38.13%.
The result is a surprise, given Messi's season in MLS. The Argentine scored an unbelievable 38 goals and 25 assists in 42 games across all competitions. The 38-year-old also scored six goals and seven assists in six MLS Cup Playoff games, and his two assists in the final against the Vancouver Whitecaps (3-1) helped his team lift their first-ever MLS Cup Trophy.
Despite all that, Son still won. But given the popularity of the Korean winger in Southern California and beyond, that’s not a significant surprise. When Son was signed to a club-record €22m deal by LAFC last summer, he quickly began breaking jersey sales records.
Transfermarkt Player of the Season – Heung-min Son breaks records off the field
According to an interview by LAFC general manager John Thorrington with TalkSport, Son’s jersey not only outsold Messi’s but also that of any other athlete in North America. "If you take from when he signed at LAFC to now, he has sold more jerseys than any other athlete in the world,” Thorrington said in the interview.
Son's impact was also felt on the MLS Cup Playoff run. The Vancouver Whitecaps sold out BC Place for their Western Conference semifinal clash against LAFC. The match was hyped up as Thomas Müller against Son, and there was hype surrounding the ‘Caps in Vancouver already. But among MLS elite talents, only David Beckham and Lionel Messi have managed to fill BC Place to the rafters and there was certainly a sizeable contingent of Korean fans in the stands.
On the field, Son has also performed, producing numbers previously seen only from other former European stars Müller and Messi. In 13 games across all competitions, Son scored 12 goals and four assists. The winger also scored an incredible goal in the Western Conference semifinal against the Whitecaps. LAFC may have lost that game, but with Son in the squad, the Californians will be among the favorites to win MLS Cup next year, giving Son a good shot at once again dominating the MLS Transfermarkt Player of the Season vote.
