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We pause Lionel Messi's MLS adulation for a brief reminder from Hany Mukhtar | Estes
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- We pause Lionel Messi's MLS adulation for a brief reminder from Hany Mukhtar | Estes
Until Friday night, Nashville SC had the best player in Major League Soccer.
For years, Hany Mukhtar has spoiled fans in this city. He's the league's reigning MVP, and with a league-high 13 goals in MLS play thus far in 2023, he's on pace to win it again.
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Alas, Mukhtar – along with nearly everyone who has played the game – is not Lionel Messi .
As the great ones do, Messi actually exceeded the prodigious hype surrounding his debut Friday night for MLS' Inter Miami. Messi's game-winning, free-kick goal as a substitute was so stunningly spectacular that it forced the world to take notice of our nation's little upstart soccer league like never before.
I pull up MLSsoccer.com , and the lead story is a "Messi Tracker," positioned above an invitation to sign up for the "Messi Insider" newsletter. This is MLS' moment, to be sure, and the league is well aware.
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Here at home, Nashville SC coach Gary Smith was watching Messi, too. I know because on Sunday night, after Nashville's 2-1 Leagues Cup victory over the Colorado Rapids at GEODIS Park, I asked the coach about Messi.
Smith, interestingly, started talking about Mukhtar, who happened to be seated beside him.
"I'm not trying to compare Hany to Lionel Messi," Smith said. "What I'm trying to say is this guy (in Mukhtar), right now, if (he's) not the best player, he's certainly in the top (ones). He's performed over the last three years at an incredible level.
"Now what I saw the other night was amazing from Lionel Messi. ... The caliber of his play, just the confidence he brought out of other players. Do we not see that from this gentleman next to me for our group?"
I nodded in agreement. Wasn't expecting such a detour from Smith, but he wasn't wrong.
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All due respect to Derrick Henry and Juuse Saros and a few others, but no other athlete in the Music City is more important to his team than Mukhtar is to Nashville SC.
Sunday was just the latest example. Mukhtar didn't start or play the first half against Colorado after appearing in the MLS All-Star Game. He entered a dull game in the 55thminute. He scored the game's first goal in the 57thminute. In the 65th, he set up Nashville's second goal.
Wasn't the first time Mukhtar had instantly impacted a game like that, and while the victory was in a tournament outside of MLS play, it was a critical result for Nashville. The club had lost five of its previous six games, a slump that was threatening to ruin what had been a nice season.
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Those struggles, along with something else, happened to Nashville SC while the rest of MLS has been preoccupied with Messi:
Nashville SC recently turned down a $7 million offer for Mukhtar from a club in Qatar , according to The Athletic , which also reported that "Mukhtar is seeking a new contract" from his current club.
Nashville S.C. star Hany Mukhtar celebrates after a victory over the Colorado Rapids at Geodis Park in July.
Not surprising that Nashville would reject the offer.
I'd pay attention to that other part, though, about the contract.
Perhaps it has something to do with the riches being thrown at Messi. Perhaps it also has something to do with Smith's words Sunday night.
Mukhtar, 28, is signed through 2025, but he's underpaid by Nashville. Per the list of salaries released by the MLS Players Association , his guaranteed compensation of $3.19 million ranks 17thin the league.
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There are not 16 players in MLS better than Mukhtar.
There is – as of now – one player in MLS that'd have to be viewed as better. Messi's celebrated addition at age 36 was a boon for the entire MLS, but it was also the type of splashy move that Nashville's club wouldn't ever be expected to make.
Nashville has been closely compared to Inter Miami throughout its MLS existence. They entered MLS together in 2020, and since then, their contrasting approaches have been fascinating to watch.
Miami's pursuit of Messi goes back years. It befits an organization that has craved big-name signings. Not that way for Nashville, which has been more prudent and methodical – and to this point, much more successful than Miami – at putting a winning team on the field.
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Rather than seek headlines and older, expensive stars right out the gate, Nashville built a lasting core of proven MLS players like U.S. national team defenseman Walker Zimmerman while unearthing young talent. Mukhtar had been playing in Denmark when Nashville SC signed him in his mid-20s.
"Lionel Messi is a wonderful signing not just for Miami but for the league, of course, as well," Smith said. "But we are talking about the game tonight, and let's not forget what this guy (Mukhtar) does, because he's very special."
Nashville SC would do well to heed that advice at the negotiating table, too, before it becomes a problem.
MLS has become the league of Messi, but its MVP still plays at GEODIS Park.
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Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Gentry_Estes.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Lionel Messi ups value of MLS stars like Nashville's Hany Mukhtar
