MLS MVP rankings: Lionel Messi leads the way, but can Sam Surridge, Hany Mukhtar or Timo Werner catch him?

There are plenty of good footballers in this league, and a handful who might surely break into the fold here. Anders Dreyer would certainly be in with a shout, but San Diego have struggled thus far - rather minimizing the impact of his 10 goal contributions. Hugo Cuypers is a legit Golden Boot contender - and Chicago are off to a great start - but there are more effective strikers here. It was equally difficult to omit the Whitecaps duo of Sebastian Berhalter and Brian White. You'd think a fully-fit Evander works his way into the conversation, too.

Right, let's address the elephant in the room first. No, Son Heung-Min is not having his best goalscoring season. He hasn't found the back of the net in MLS. That's an immense shock. He's the kind of player who should bag 20 in a season in MLS. But to limit Son to goals is to misunderstand his game and LAFC at large. First of all, Son has seven assists in 685 minutes. He is also playing in a deeper role, averaging fewer shots and getting into goalscoring positions less. In all likelihood, those goals will come.

Yet Son has been expertly used as a playmaker by new manager Marc Dos Santos. This is a different version of the same player, and LAFC are still third in the West. Is he Messi's most apparent competitor for MVP? Nope. But he's in the conversation.

NYCFC might have struggled this year. When you lose two key players, there is a good chance that form drops off. And while NYCFC don't quite look like the same team that made an improbable run to the Eastern Conference finals, they certainly haven't dropped all that much. There are a few reasons here. Pascal Jansen is a truly excellent coach who can set up a team. Maxi Moralez, at 39, is still among the most effective attacking midfielders in MLS - and has six assists to his name.

But the key difference might be Nico Fernandez. The Argentine forward has provided from all over the pitch for The Pigeons. But his goals, eight in MLS alone - have been crucial. Fernandez is loosely a striker, but he floats around, and has developed an excellent understanding with Moralez. When he's on the teamsheet, NYCFC will always feel they have a chance.

Can we interest you in a guy who kicks the ball into the net and doesn't do loads else? Surridge has always been that kind of guy. The former Nottingham Forest man is the perfect fit in Nashville. Basically, he scores goals. And that's exactly what this team - which has plenty of creative talent around him - so badly needs. Surridge enjoyed his best goalscoring season in MLS to date last year, bagging 25 goals in 37 games. This season, he's outperforming those numbers. Surridge has nine goals in seven - while only starting four games.

His game hasn't changed much, either. All but one of his goals have come from inside the box. He is averaging nearly two goals per 90 minutes. In his best game of the season, Surridge had eight touches in the penalty and scored three goals. This is absurd stuff, and certainly good enough to have him in the MVP conversation.

Musa has always been a solid goalscorer in MLS. Heading into this year, he had bagged 36 goals in nearly two full seasons. Those are pretty good numbers for a team that doesn't really compete in the West. He's a fun footballer, the kind of pure No. 9 that football, more broadly, is starting to embrace again.

It's something that suits Musa pretty well. In fairness, he is more than just a finisher - his chance creation numbers are solid (13 in 10 matches). But the goals are what stand out: 10 in nine starts. Right now, he's tied with Cuypers in the Golden Boot race. Not bad at all.

The only reason Werner isn't higher up is that he took a few games to rack up minutes - and isn't quite a mainstay for a truly excellent San Jose team. He came off the bench for his first two games and has managed just over 450 minutes in all competitions thus far. We're working with a small sample size here.

But in that time, he has been quite magnificent. In seven MLS games, Werner has tallied nine goal contributions. His playmaking skills, once pretty much ignored in Europe, are clear to see. Give him time, and Werner could compete for the top spot.

Mukhtar has somehow become a bit of a player for the intellectuals. So much of MLS feels stats driven. There are so many games, so many teams, that it's the numbers that really cut through. Mukhtar has seven goal contributions in seven starts. Those are not sexy numbers. Yet the No.10 is so much more than the stat sheet. Instead, he is the beating heart of the best team in the Eastern Conference. Everything runs through him.

Nashville have had to change a bit. The addition of Cristian Espinoza has given them an extra element in attack. Mukhtar has enjoyed fewer looks on goal. At times, he's the pass-before-the-pass-guy. And even if MLS counts "hockey assists", then he's not always the man tasked with providing the killer pass. But he does pretty much everything in between.

Who else? It's pretty simple, really. As long as Messi is playing in MLS, he will be the best player in the league - and it is not even close. The irony here is that the numbers aren't fully there. In 10 games, he has nine goal contributions, and he has only scored one in his last three.

There is a sense, though, that he's sort of just ticking away. Inter Miami have had to rebuild and revamp without Jordi Alba, who certainly helped draw the best out of Messi. The system is still a little wonky here, and his connection with new signing German Berterame isn't quite there yet. Is his grip on this spot as tight as it should be? Not at all. Will he win it anyway? Almost certainly.