The league's top young player will be celebrated with a new award starting in 2020, as Major League Soccer announced on Wednesday the creation of the AT&T MLS Young Player of the Year Award, which will recognize the top player in the league age 22 and under at the end of each season.
Beginning this season, the Young Player of the Year award replaces the Rookie of the Year award, which previously honored the top first-year pro player in MLS. For 2020, any player born on or after Jan.1, 1998 — no matter whether they're a draft pick, an academy product or signed from abroad — is eligible for the Young Player of the Year award. Players born on or before Dec. 31, 1997 are ineligible.
“The AT&T Young Player of the Year award reflects the commitment of MLS to develop world class players by recognizing the elite young stars within our league. This honor will highlight the amazing talent developed in MLS academies, which year-after-year produce internationally coveted stars,” MLS executive VP of player relations and competition Todd Durbin said in a statement. “With our clubs increasingly signing elite young international standouts and the continued quality of players in the MLS SuperDraft, there has never been more young talent to celebrate in our league.”
AT&T Young Player of the Year will be part of MLS's End of Year Awards, which will be determined through voting between Oct. 29-Nov. 9 from three groups:
- Current MLS players.
- MLS clubs (coaches, technical directors/general Managers).
- Select media members representing local and national outlets who consistently covered the 2020 MLS regular season.
Some of the top candidates for the inaugural award in 2020 include the Philadelphia Union's Brenden Aaronson (pictured above), who last week captured the 22 Under 22 award, and LAFC forward Diego Rossi, who currently tops the MLS scoring charts.
Be sure to check out the complete list of nominees for AT&T Young Player of the Year and all MLS End of Year Awards
AT&T Young Player of the Year nominees
Brenden Aaronson (PHI)
Ayo Akinola (TOR)
Ignacio Aliseda (CHI)
Efraín Álvarez (LA)
Frankie Amaya (CIN)
Julian Araujo (LA)
Ezequiel Barco (ATL)
Cole Bassett (COL)
George Bello (ATL)
Luis Binks (MTL)
Pablo Bonilla (POR)
Zachary Brault-Guillard (MTL)
Tajon Buchanan (NE)
Gianluca Busio (SKC)
Cristian Cásseres Jr. (RBNY)
Valentín Castellanos (NYC)
Caden Clark (RBNY)
Cade Cowell (SJ)
Daryl Dike (ORL)
Thomas Hasal (VAN)
Alistair Johnston (NSH)
Aboubacar Keita (CLB)
Henry Kessler (NE)
Nico Lemoine (HOU)
Jaylin Lindsey (SKC)
Marcos Lopez (SJ)
Mark McKenzie (PHI)
Miguel Navarro (CHI)
Moses Nyeman (DC)
Kevin Paredes (DC)
Andrés Perea (ORL)
Andrés Reyes (MIA)
Bryan Reynolds (DAL)
Brian Rodríguez (LAFC)
Diego Rossi (LAFC)
Pablo Ruíz (RSL)
James Sands (NYC)
Tanner Tessmann (DAL)
Milton Valenzuela (CLB)
Ranko Veselinović (VAN)
Sam Vines (COL)
