Columbus Crew SC midfielder Federico Higuainand forward Gyasi Zardes have been nominated for the 2018 Landon Donovan Major League Soccer MVP award alongside 39 fellow players.
This season, Higuain has made 26 starts on 29 appearances, recording six goals and a current team-high eight assists. On March 24, 2018, Higuain recorded two assists at MAPFRE Stadium against D.C. United, becoming the first player in Crew SC history to reach a career total of at least 50 goals and 50 assists with the club.
Higuain signed with Crew SC as a Designated Player on July 27, 2012. Despite coming on mid-season, Higuain finished his rookie year with a total of five goals and seven assists to earn the 2012 MLS Newcomer of the Year award.
Zardes has started and played in 32 matches this season, scoring 16 goals and tying his personal single-season career high. Notably, Zardes is the highest-scoring American player in MLS this season. On September 22, 2018, Zardes scored his 16th goal of the 2018 MLS regular season against the Colorado Rapids, notching his 50th career MLS regular-season goal.
Zardes was acquired by Columbus Crew SC on January 20, 2018 from the LA Galaxy in exchange for $400,000 in Targeted Allocation Money forward Ola Kamara on January 20, 2018.
Players, technical staffers (technical directors, GMs, and coaches) and a select group of national and regional media began the voting process on Monday, Oct. 15, and the award finalists will be announced on Oct. 31.
Read more about all of Crew SC's 13 nominations for year-end awards, as well as the full release from MLS.
