Despite a paltry four and eight appearances respectively, Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets have been nominated for the MLS Player of the Year Award.
Barcelona legends Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets have been named as nominees for the MLS Player of the Year Award despite their scanty number of league appearances.
The pair, alongside Jordi Alba, were major reinforcements for Inter Miami this summer, changing the fortunes of the club and leading them to two finals, one of which they won.
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Messi and Busquets exploits in the MLS
Although their stint in North America has been majorly successful, the former Barcelona duo have barely played league games, as they joined the club while the league was on break.
Messi, with support from the 2010 World Cup winner, led the Miami-based team to their first-ever trophy, the Leagues Cup. They also came close to winning the US Open Cup, but the Argentinian's absence made them fall casualty to a vengeful Houston Dynamo in the final.
Both players, Messi and Busquets, have been nominated for the Player of the Year gong, despite playing only four and eight games, respectively. The Argentine has also only scored one goal in the competition.
How the winner is selected
The voting for the award begins on October 10 and ends on October 23. The award and other end-of-the-year individual titles are voted for by three sects.
Current coaches, technical directors and general managers of MLS clubs
Players of MLS teams
Members of the media
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Full nominee list
The full list of nominees according to Marca:
Acosta, Luciano (CIN)
Almada, Thiago (ATL)
Arturo (HOU)
Benteke, Christian (DC)
Blake, André (PHI)
Bouanga, Dénis (LAFC)
Bürki, romano (STL)
Busquets, Sergio (MIA)
Carranza, Julián (PHI)
Choinière, Mathieu (MTL)
Espinoza, Cristian (SJ)
Ferreira, Jesús (DAL)
Frei, Stefan (SEA)
Gauld, Ryan (VAN)
Giakoumakis, Giorgos (ATL)
Gil, Carles (NE)
Hernández, Cucho (CLB)
Herrera, Héctor (HOU)
Messi, Lionel (MIA)
Morris, Jordania (SEA)
Mukhtar, Hany (NSH)
Parques, Keaton (Nueva York)
Puig, Riqui (LA)
Pulido, Alan (SKC)
Reynoso, Emanuel (MIN)
Rodríguez, Santiago (Nueva York)
Sirois, Jonathan (MTL)
Swiderski, Karol (CLT)
Thommy, Erik (SKC)
Torres, Facundo (ORL)