Valeri received the honour by vote of the league’s club managers, media members, and current players. The other nominees included Atlanta United’s Miguel Almirón, Toronto FC’s Sebastian Giovinco, Chicago Fire’s Nemanja Nikolić, and New York City’s David Villa.

The 31-year-old Valeri recorded an MLS-record nine-game goal-scoring streak from July 29 to September 24 and finished with 21 goals over the season, trailing only Nikolić and Villa.

Valeri also had 11 assists in 32 games for Portland, which finished with the most points in the West before falling in the conference semifinals to Houston Dynamo.

He is the third Argentine to win MVP honours after Christian Gómez in 2006 and Guillermo Barros Schelotto in 2008.