On Thursday, Major League Soccer announced the finalists for the 2025 Landon Donovan MLS MVP award. Among the nominees was Nashville SC striker Sam Surridge, who finished tied for second in the MLS Golden Boot race with a career-best 24 goals.
The other MVP finalists are Inter Miami's Lionel Messi, San Diego FC's Anders Dreyer, LAFC's Denis Bouanga and FC Cincinnati's Evander.
In all competitions, Surridge scored 30 goals for Nashville, a club-record production. He also took home the US Open Cup Golden Boot, scoring six goals in the tournament, including the winning goal in the final.
In 2025, his second full season in Nashville, Surridge has become the second English-born player to score at least 20 goals in a season after New York Red Bulls legend Bradley Wright-Phillips. A 2025 MLS All-Star, Surridge was tied with Bouanga for the league lead with two hat-tricks, including bagging four goals in a 7-2 win over Chicago Fire.
A win would make Surridge the second player in Nashville history to take home the award, with Hany Mukhtar taking home the MVP and Golden Boot trophies in 2022.
The league awards are voted on by a selection of MLS technical staffers, players, and media members. SixOneFive Soccer's Ben Wright and Valair Shabilla are voters for these awards.
