Atlanta United star Thiago Almada has won Major League Soccer’s Newcomer of the Year award for 2022.
The honor recognizes the season’s most impactful new MLS player with prior professional experience, which excludes recent academy graduates and SuperDraft picks.
Almada joined Atlanta United as a Designated Player from Velez Sarsfield in February for a league-record $16m fee. Since then, the 21-year-old has scored six goals and provided 12 assists (seven primary), leading his team for goal contributions.
Despite Atlanta United’s struggles in 2022, Almada stood out as one of the league’s biggest talents. So impressive were his performances that the playmaker recently earned a call-up to the senior Argentina national team – just the second MLS player to do so alongside former Atlanta United star Gonzalo ‘Pity’ Martinez.
Almada is the second Atlanta United player in six years to win this award following the success of now-Newcastle United attacker Miguel Almiron in 2017 – the Five Stripes’ inaugural season.
The youngster faced fierce competition for this season’s honor from New England Revolution goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic and Columbus Crew forward Cucho Hernandez.
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