Kim Jin-su, Jung Seung-won and others face internal competition at Seoul as Lee Dong-kyung aims for a 'second consecutive award'... Who will be the 'brightest star' of K League 1?

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

As professional football's K League 1 enters the final round, the competitive landscape for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is taking shape. Considering team performance and individual statistics, it is highly likely that the race will narrow down to a candidate from 'champion' FC Seoul and Lee Dong-kyung of Ulsan HD.

The Korea Professional Football League will accept MVP nominations from the 12th K League 1 clubs until the 18th of next month, before selecting three final candidates through the K League Individual Awards Selection Committee on the 25th. Each club may submit only one candidate for the MVP award. Last year, Park Jin-seop of champion Jeonbuk Hyundai, Lee Dong-kyung of Ulsan HD (9th place), and Ssabak of Suwon FC (10th place) advanced to the final round and competed for the honor.

Seoul, which secured an early title before entering the final round, is caught in a "happy dilemma" over who to nominate as its MVP candidate. The difficulty in pinpointing a single "chief contributor" to the championship was both a characteristic of Seoul this season and a driving force behind their victory. It can be interpreted as a title achieved by a so-called "one team," rather than one player standing out above the rest.

It would not be surprising for any player to be nominated, but attention is currently focused on captain Kim Jin-su and Jung Seung-won. In his second season with Seoul, Kim has led the squad throughout the year, becoming the "championship captain" of a team that reached the top spot for the first time in 10 years. As of the 28th, he has recorded one goal and three assists in 31 matches, a significant drop from last season (two goals, eight assists), but his influence both on and off the pitch was immense. The symbolic weight of being the captain of the champion team cannot be ignored either.

Jung Seung-won, a national team player who has openly expressed his desire for the MVP award, is also a strong candidate for Seoul's nomination. He appeared in 33 matches this season, recording eight goals and seven assists, far surpassing his performance last year (two goals, five assists). In particular, during July and August, when Seoul began to pull away decisively, he tallied eight goals and three assists, earning the K League Player of the Month award for two consecutive months. Following this form, he was recently called up to the national team and continues to perform well.

It is not just them. Striker Klimara (Poland), who is competing for the Golden Boot with Yago (Ulsan) with 16 goals, has more than enough credentials to challenge for the MVP given his consistent performance throughout the season. However, it may be a drawback that the club must submit its MVP candidate with three league matches remaining while the race for the top scorer is still ongoing. While he does not receive as much attention due to the nature of his position, Babetz (Croatia), who solidly anchored the midfield throughout the season, is also evaluated as contributing no less than the players mentioned above.

A variable in the equation is that a "championship premium" does not absolutely dictate the MVP voting. Since the award selects the single best "player" across the entire league for the season, there are cases where the decision is based solely on individual performance, regardless of team results. In fact, last season, although Jeonbuk secured an early title, the MVP went to Lee Dong-kyung of Ulsan, who recorded 13 goals and 12 assists. Ulsan finished in 9th place.

Jeonbuk's MVP candidate last year was captain Park Jin-seop. Then-manager Gerardo Martino publicly cited Park as the chief contributor to the championship, expecting him to win based on the championship premium and the symbolism of being the champion team's captain. However, Park and Lee Dong-kyung tied in the manager vote (five votes each). In the media vote, Lee narrowly led with 71 votes compared to Park's 61, but the gap widened significantly in the captain vote, where they received eight and two votes respectively, leading to different outcomes. The other MVP candidate, Ssabak, received two votes each from managers, captains, and media.

Moreover, Lee Dong-kyung is challenging for a "defense" of the MVP title this season as well, backed by extraordinary individual performance. He has appeared in 32 matches this season, recording 12 goals and 13 assists. This marks his second consecutive season with a double-double (10+ goals, 10+ assists), a historic first for a Korean player in K League history. His team's ranking also improved from 9th place last season to 2nd this year, setting the stage for a second consecutive MVP award. If Lee wins the MVP again, it will be the first time in 11 years since Lee Dong-gook (then of Jeonbuk) won back-to-back awards in 2014 and 2015, and only the second such instance in history. Winning the MVP twice or more would make him the third player to achieve this feat, following Shin Tae-yong and Lee Dong-gook.

The dilemma for 'champion' Seoul is inevitably deepening as well. To celebrate a double triumph of dominating the league while also producing the MVP, they must ultimately weigh various factors to nominate the candidate with the highest probability of winning. The fact that votes from on-site managers and captains are reflected in addition to the media vote adds to the complexity of their deliberations. If no player from champion Seoul wins the MVP this season, it will mark the second consecutive year—and the eighth time in history—that a player from a non-champion team stands out as the league's "brightest star."

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original