Leeds United star gets huge reward eclipsing Chelsea ace in Whites surprise and landslide vote

Having been selected to captain the USA at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Adams played every single minute of every game as his side reached the competition’s knockout round of 16 before bowing out with a 3-1 defeat to the Netherlands.

His contribution came on the back of a stellar first three months at new club Leeds following his summer switch from RB Leipzig for a fee in the region of £20m. Adams ended his time at Leipzig by helping the club win the DFB-Pokal and the midfielder has now been voted as the USA’s 2022 BioSteel U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year.

Adams has been nominated for the award twice before, in 2018 following his first full year with the US national side and also in 2020 after helping Leipzig to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Zack Steffan won the award in 2018 whilst Weston McKennie took the honour in 2020.

But Adams was the clear winner of the 2022 award for which fans were able to vote for the second time with those votes weighted at 15 per cent of the total. Five finalists were nominated and Adams weighed in with a whopping 71.6 per cent of the vote, finishing clear of Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic (14.7 per cent) and Arsenal’s Matt Turner (8.2 per cent).

Votes for the award are collected from respective national team coaches, national Ttam players who have earned a cap in 2022, members of the US Soccer Board of Directors, US Soccer Athletes’ Council, professional league (MLS and USL) head coaches, select media members and former players and administrators.

Adams was informed that he had received the award ahead of Friday night’s Premier League at Aston Villa through a recorded video message from Tim Howard – himself a former dual winner of the award. The video message was shown as a surprise to Adams in front of his teammates at Leeds.

“Receiving this type of recognition is certainly special, but for me the team’s success is the most important thing,” said Adams, as quoted by ussoccer.com

"Having the experience of going to the World Cup, performing well as a group and moving the sport forward in the United States was super important to me this year, and I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. Tim Howard is an absolute legend in US Soccer history and the Premier League as well. To hear those words from him was very special, and I’m very thankful.”