Zlatan Ibrahimovic made a huge splash when he joined the Los Angeles Galaxy this season, but was it enough to earn the 2018 Landon Donovan MVP Award? Major League Soccer will name its top regular- season player on Wednesday from a group of five marquee players.

Atlanta United will play for the MLS Cup on Saturday, so it’s fitting that they have two players among the final five.

Josef Martinez broke the MLS single-season goals record in 2018, capturing the Golden Boot with 31 markers, including eight game-winners.

“Thirty goals and a whole lot of production offensively for us,” Atlanta United midfielder Julian Gressel said about Martinez in October.  “He’s just been so good all year.”

Also representing Atlanta is Miguel Almiron, who recorded 14 assists for the second consecutive year.  The 24-year-old also chipped in with 12 goals, helping Atlanta United to a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference.

“I was just reading an interview the other day with Martinez and he was saying that [Almiron] makes him better and I believe it,” New York Red Bulls keeper Luis Robles said in November.  “The engine that makes [The Red Bulls] run is Miguel Almiron.”

Another big-name arrival from Europe, former Manchester United and Everton striker Wayne Rooney, is also up for the award after his first season with D.C. United.

"He's a great player, very easy to play with,” said D.C. United forward Luciano Acosta. “He makes everything easier.”

Making 20 appearances after joining the team midseason, Rooney made a huge difference for D.C. United, helping them climb out of the Eastern basement and into the MLS Cup Playoffs with 12 goals and seven assists.

Carlos Vela helped lead Los Angeles FC to a third-place finish in the Western Conference with a team-high 14 goals and 13 assists.

“We are grateful to have a player like Carlos committed to LAFC and are pleased that he has been rightfully recognized as one of the top players in the league,” LAFC general manager John Thorrington said after Vela was named to the MLS Best XI.

He played in 28 games this season for LAFC, including 26 starts.

Ibrahimovic showed the level of his stardom from his first appearance, scoring twice in his debut including a highlight-reel first strike.

“He's a great player for us, he's a game-winner,” LA Galaxy head coach Dominic Kinnear said in October. “He's important for the league, as well.  I think his influence across the league is pretty incredible.”

He ultimately finished the season with 22 goals in 27 games and picked up his 500th career marker with another headline maker in Toronto.

Of the five men, Ibrahimovic is the only player on this list that was not able to get his team into the postseason, but it’s hard to pick out a bigger story of the season than the 37-year-old Swede