Columbus Crew SC midfielder Lucas Zelarayán named MLS Newcomer of the Year

In outstanding debut season, Argentine wins honor after contributing six goals and four assists in just 16 regular season matches

NEW YORK (Friday, November 12, 2020) – Major League Soccer today announced Columbus Crew SC midfielder Lucas Zelarayán as the 2020 MLS Newcomer of the Year. The award recognizes the year’s most impactful new MLS player who made his league debut during the 2020 season. Zelarayán shone the brightest among a class of more than 200 star-studded newcomers that averaged 24 years of age.

Soundbytes and video of Lucas Zelarayán’s reaction to being named MLS Newcomer of the Year will be available HERE later today.
Click here to join media availability with Zelarayán today at 3:15 p.m. ET

Joining Crew SC for a club-record transfer fee on December 19, 2019 from Liga MX giants Tigres UANL, Zelarayán arrived in MLS with more than 216 appearances across his seven-year senior career, which started in Club Atlético Belgrano of Argentina. The 28-year-old Designated Player made an immediate impact on the team, scoring the game-winning goal in his regular season debut as Crew SC defeated New York City FC 1-0 in their home opener on March 1. In all, Zelarayán registered six goals and four assists for Crew SC despite making just 16 regular-season appearances after missing part of the 2020 season due to injuries. Notably, of his 10 combined goals and assists, half of them were either the game-winning goal (three) or the game-winning assist (two). Columbus posted a perfect 7-0-0 record in matches where Zelarayán recorded a goal or an assist.

In 2020, the Argentine midfielder created 2.7 goal-scoring chances per 90 minutes, a higher rate than any other player on the team according to Opta. Additionally, Zelarayán also led the Black & Gold in completed dribbles (40) – with 15 more than the next closest player on the team – and was named to the MLSsoccer.com Team of the Week on five occasions – more than any other Crew SC player this season. Earlier today, MLS unveiled its best-selling jerseys of 2020, with Zelarayán making the top 25 list, coming in at 23.

Zelarayán beat out for the award other standout players such as Chicago Fire FC’s Robert Berić and stellar newcomers that were integral toward their respective clubs advancing to the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs, including Alan Pulido (Sporting Kansas City), José Martínez (Philadelphia Union), Lewis Morgan (Inter Miami CF) and fellow Argentine Pablo Piatti (Toronto FC), among others.

Crew SC returns to the pitch for Round One of the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs match against the New York Red Bulls at MAPFRE Stadium on Saturday, November 21 (3 p.m. ET/ UniMás, TUDN).

The award was voted on by MLS club technical staff, media, and current MLS players. Below is a breakdown of the voting results:


<strong><u>Newcomer of the Year </u></strong>	<strong><u>Player %</u></strong>	<strong><u>Club %</u></strong>	<strong><u>Media %</u></strong>	<strong><u>Final %</u></strong>
<strong>Lucas Zelarayán (CLB)</strong>	<p>23.54%</p>	<p>25.44%</p>	<p>14.93%</p>	<strong>21.30%</strong>
<p>Robert Berić (CHI)</p>	<p>12.64%</p>	<p>20.18%</p>	<p>27.29%</p>	<p>20.04%</p>
<p>Alan Pulido (SKC)</p>	<p>6.48%</p>	<p>11.40%</p>	<p>13.43%</p>	<p>10.44%</p>
<p>José Martínez (PHI)</p>	<p>4.27%</p>	<p>1.75%</p>	<p>17.27%</p>	<p>7.76%</p>
<p>Lewis Morgan (MIA)</p>	<p>8.06%</p>	<p>9.65%</p>	<p>5.12%</p>	<p>7.61%</p>
<p>Pablo Piatti (TOR)</p>	<p>6.64%</p>	<p>8.77%</p>	<p>1.71%</p>	<p>5.70%</p>
<p>João Paulo (SEA)</p>	<p>3.48%</p>	<p>7.89%</p>	<p>2.35%</p>	<p>4.57%</p>
<p>Yimmi Chará (POR)</p>	<p>5.53%</p>	<p>1.75%</p>	<p>4.26%</p>	<p>3.85%</p>