Alphonso Davies has been selected as the best young player in Major League Soccer.
The 17-year-old Vancouver Whitecaps FC winger topped MLSsoccer.com’s 22 under 22 list, which dropped on Thursday. The list features the league’s best 22 players under the age of 22, a shift from the 24 under 24 series of years past.
A panel of 19 voters determined the rankings, including four anonymous technical staffers and 10 members of the MLS digital team, including Matt Doyle, Sam Stejskal, Bobby Warshaw and Andrew Wiebeand. Five soccer media members across North America also received votes, including Marcelo Balboa (Univision), Doug McIntyre (Yahoo! Sports), Alexi Lalas (FOX Sports), Paul Tenorio (The Athletic) and Will Parchman (The Athletic).
The panel ranked the eligible players based on the following criteria: technical ability, tactical IQ, physical attributes and future potential.
Davies, who will join Bundesliga giants FC Bayern Munich in January, is in the midst of a breakout season for Vancouver.
The Whitecaps FC Academy product has six goals, tied for third most on the team, and a team-high 11 assists – one shy of Pedro Morales for the all-time Whitecaps FC single season record in MLS. He also leads MLS with 114 dribbles completed, one shy of the all-time single season record in MLS, and 241 duels won.
Last year, Davies was the fourth-ranked player on MLSsoccer.com's 24 under 24 list.
