Normally when an end of the season article like this is written, the MVP winner is clear, and it’s more of an homage to the player’s excellence.
During the Messi years, you had an exceptional supporting cast, but no one could ever come close to taking the most valuable label from the GOAT.
Since then, Barcelona has been waiting for a face to emerge for whom they could build the club’s future around.
The moment truly seems to be here. This campaign was about more than just breakthrough performances by young players, as we’ve seen over the past five seasons consistently. It was a year where affirmation arrived that Barcelona has a foundation of talent who are here to stay, poised to compete for titles together for the foreseeable future.
RCD Espanyol de Barcelona v FC Barcelona - La Liga EA Sports Photo by Omar Arnau/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images
We’ll all have an opinion about who the this year’s MVP should be. But we should also admit that the answer isn’t clear.
The leading candidates for sure will be Lamine Yamal, Pedri, and Raphinha. But an argument could be made for Robert Lewandowski, who will likely finish second in the Pichichi race, or even a wildcard like Iñigo Martínez or Wojciech Szczęsny, whose contributions to the success of this team were profound.
In reality, however, we know that when it comes to these conversations, goals speak louder than anything,
With that in mind, let’s look at the top contenders.
Robert Lewandowski
FC Barcelona v RC Celta de Vigo - La Liga EA Sports Photo by Joan Valls/Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The most important trophy that Barcelona won was of course La Liga. And in that competition, the Polish international led the way for Barcelona with 25 goals. If he hadn’t gotten injured, he likely would have finished in front of Kylian Mbappé as the leading scorer in the league.
This was the season where Barcelona finally got from Lewandowski what they were hoping for when they signed him after a monster career at Bayern Munich. It’s a season that also will make them feel calm letting him see out the final year of his contract at Barca’s center forward.
In the Champions League, he added another 11 goals. But what’s interesting is that his assist numbers were down compared to his years under Xavi. Just two this season, compared to eight and seven in his first two years.
Is that a sign that Hansi Flick finally set up Lewandowski to do the things he was always best at doing? A sign of another big year coming up?
Raphinha
FC Barcelona v Villarreal - LaLiga EA Sports Photo by Maria Gracia Jimenez/Soccrates/Getty Images
The Brazilian was the people’s champion of Barcelona.
He wasn’t like Lamine Yamal, who other teams had to double team in order to stop, but he was the most goal dangerous player on the team. He simply kept popping up in the right place at the right time to make a big impact in important moments.
In La Liga, he scored 18 and assisted 9 in 35 games.
But in the Champions League, where he really stakes his claim, it was an incredible 13 goals and 8 assists in just 14 games.
If Barcelona had gone on to win the Champions League, then for me, hands down, I’d have given it to the Brazilian for his historic impact in the world’s greatest competition.
As it stands, however, he has stiff competition from two other teammates.
Lamine Yamal
FC Barcelona v Villarreal CF - La Liga EA Sports Photo by Flor Tan Jun/Getty Images
If he’s not the best player in the world at the moment, most people are placing their bets on the 17-year-old to be the face of football for decades to come.
I’m not sure if that qualifies him to be the MVP of his team for this season, but he’s without a doubt the most valuable player for Barcelona as a club.
Lamine stands as the league leader in assists with 13, while adding in 8 goals. In the Champions League, he added in 5 goals and 3 assists.
What must be said about Lamine is that he came into the season having made a name for himself on the global stage after leading Spain to a Euro championship over the summer.
FC Barcelona v Villarreal CF - La Liga EA Sports Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images
Even with the high expectations that were set, the young Spanish prodigy continued to get better as the season went along. This was a year of impact, but it was also a year of growth professionally.
What’s scary is that we are still not seeing the most lethal version of Lamine in front of goal. Right now, he is a creative playmaking genius. But watch out, because he’s starting to see the ball hit the back of the net more and more, and it’s happening in clutch moments.
If Lamine is not the MVP this season, he very well could be a perennial MVP for years to come.
Pedri
FC Barcelona v Villarreal CF - La Liga EA Sports Photo by Joan Valls/Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images
My MVP for the year is none other than the poet himself, Pedri.
There are no stats to back the argument, and anyone who understands the game, and especially those who can feel it viscerally, knows there doesn’t have to be.
The eye doesn’t lie. The heart knows what makes it skip a beat.
Pedri is the beautiful game incarnate.
Pedri is, at least for the moment, Barcelona’s most important player. Without him, Barcelona always seems to be a shell of itself.
FC Barcelona v Villarreal CF - La Liga EA Sports Photo by Pablo Rodriguez/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images
As good as Lamine, Lewandowski, and Raphinha have been, without Pedri on the field, their numbers would have been diminished, and the team would have won fewer trophies too.
Pedri was asked to play a new position this year, and he became the best player in the world at that new position. Simply put, he made Hansi Flick’s unstoppable attacking system go.
He is the engine of Barcelona. He is what made this team so easy on the eye, and a joy to behold.
Of course, that’s just my opinion. And it wasn’t an east choice to make.
Barcelona were excellent precisely because they were a team that eschewed individualism. In that spirit, even naming an MVP doesn't feel right.
But why not have fun. Who gets your vote for MVP this season?