Major League Soccer announced that the 2016 Landon Donovan MLS MVP was awarded to New York City FC's David Villa this morning. The forward beat out the likes of Sebastian Giovinco, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Sacha Kljestan and Ignacio Piatti to come in first overall in the voting percentage.
History-maker Villa makes a little history of his own
Not all major international signings can say they have had as much impact on the field as Villa has done for NYCFC. The striker has totaled 41 goals during his time in New York which is the most goals scored by any player over two seasons.
This season, David Villa found the back of the net 23 times as he helped his club reach the Audi 2016 MLS Playoffs for the first time in their history. He also added four assist to his name this season and due to those performances, was named to the 2016 MLS Best XI team and finished second in the race for the 2016 MLS Golden Boot award.
Although NYCFC went out in the second round to Toronto FC, Villa can look back at his season with pride as he put in some fantastic performances in the sky blue shirt of NYCFC.
Speaking to MLSSoccer.com, Villa seemed genuinely pleased with his win. The Spaniard stated that the award was meaningful because the vote was from "everybody working in the MLS" and that to be a winner amongst all the players within the MLS meant a lot to him. He ended his statement by saying that it was "one of the best days" of his career.
The final breakdown of the vote
After all the votes were tallied, the final count was as follows:
David Villa is the 21st winner of the award and the first Spaniard to be awarded the honor since its inception.
The MLS MVP award is decided on votes by the players and clubs in the MLS as well as the media that covers the MLS.
Quotes from MLSSoccer.com