After a disappointing end to the season for Inter Miami and Lionel Messi things have started to pick up for both the club and player in recent weeks.
Inter Miami found out their Club World Cup opponents, which includes one of Europe’s biggest names, and Lionel Messi has just added another personal accolade to his glittering career.
The MLS and Inter Miami confirmed that Lionel Messi had won the 2024 Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable Player award.
Messi received the award at the Chase Stadium with numerous members of the Inter Miami youth-team.
The Argentine international is yet to sign a new deal with the Herons but in an Instagram post last season, Messi revealed he would be back stronger for the new campaign.
New manager Javier Mascherano will be excited to work with Messi next season, his former teammate at Barcelona will be looking to win back-to-back MLS MVP awards in the next campaign.
Inter Miami fans praise ‘GOAT’ Lionel Messi for latest award
Messi, who helped Inter Miami to a record-breaking regular season points haul, won the award with 38.43% of the vote.
It was a tight battle between the Argentine and Columbus Crews Cucho Hernandez who himself earned 33.70% of the vote.
Inter Miami fans were over the moon with Messi’s latest triumph and many took to social media to post their congratulations.
One wrote: “The GOAT has done it again.”
Another wrote: “The GOAT keeps on being the greatest.”
A further fan said: “Most valuable player in every sense. The greatest on the field and off.”
One Inter Miami fan cheekily explained how the wrong player had been given the award saying, “Suarez should have won it, all the same congrats to the goat.”
“Did anyone think it would be anyone else? Who else would it be other than the goat”, added another.
- Read more: Lionel Messi looks to keep remarkable tournament group stage record alive during Club World Cup
Comparing Lionel Messi’s season numbers to other contenders
There is no doubt that Messi once again had an outstanding MLS season, but how do his numbers stack up against some of his competitors who missed out on the award?
The other four players who finished below Messi on the MVP vote included Cucho Hernandez (33.7%), Evander (9.24%), Christian Benteke (7.10%) and teammate Luis Suarez (2.17%).
It’s worth noting that all of the players on the list are attacking in nature with three being classed as strikers.
Here’s a look at the player’s MLS stats for this season.
| Player | Lionel Messi | Cucho Hernandez | Evander | Christian Benteke | Luis Suarez |
| Goals | 20 | 19 | 15 | 23 | 20 |
| Assists | 16 | 10 | 15 | 5 | 9 |
Whilst the former Liverpool striker Christian Benteke finished as the MLS top scorer it was Messi who finished with the most goal contributions with 36.
Whilst numbers don’t always tell the full story, none of the names above helped their side get to the MLS Cup final which is being played between the LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls.
The award will help give closure to what wasn’t a great season for Inter Miami as a club, but Messi will be thankful for yet another award to find space for.