This MLS season has been accompanied by a lot of talk about the state of the league, what it should be, what it isn’t and where it’s going. Think pieces about promotion and relegation, the ever-moving goalposts on designated player allotments, and even its small but growing contingent of British fans, but in many ways what’s happened on the pitch could ben the biggest coup for the future of the league. And the lion’s share of the praise should go to an Italian wizard up north who’s set the league alight, Sebastian Giovinco.

Much has been made of Giovinco’s impact at Toronto FC, and rightly so. As Steve Davis correctly pointed out in his piece last month:

“At no time in Major League Soccer’s 20 years has any one man been more of a tour de force, more singularly impacting in performance and achievement. Simply put, in Giovinco’s first year in North America, the Italian international is having the greatest season witnessed yet in MLS.”

A month later and that statement still rings true. With the inevitability of an impending Most Valuable Player award on the horizon, Giovinco’s historic season, consisting of 22 goals and 16 assists (both league leading figures) will be etched into the history of the league.

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Better yet, stats hardly tell the whole story. Giovinco’s gaudy numbers have been augmented by a stunning highlight reel, filled with the kind memorable season defining moments that would rival any player’s campaign.

https:\/\/www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyYVhoPr-Ts

Still, Giovinco could hold an even greater title when it’s all said and done – as the most important player in the history of the league. While David Beckham and Thierry Henry brought casual interest and eyeballs to the MLS, Giovinco is in the process of taking it a step further by bringing a newfound level of legitimacy in the long run.

MLS has gone through many iterations, from nothing more than America’s quirky attempt at soccer in its mid-90s inception to a league where older stars can ‘enjoy” their last days. The league is somewhat mired in that stage, admittedly, still relying on the marketability of some key, former stars to drive casual interest. But the addition of Giovinco this season, and to a lesser extent the recent signings of the likes of Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore — players either in their prime or not far removed from it — indicates the next evolution of MLS: As a serious option for mid-level players who can’t seem to find their feet in Europe.

And as Giovinco has proved, it’s been a mutually beneficial relationship.

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If you told a European soccer fan back in 2007 that Sebastian Giovinco would lead the league in scoring, make a mockery of defensive units and put in a series of world class efforts in every week, few may have been surprised. But even fewer, if any, would have believed that the his would have happened in Toronto at BMO stadium and not in Turin with Juventus.

But for Giovinco, a player who always shone when on loan from Juventus yet could only show flashes of brilliance when he put on the colors of the bianconeri, everything he’s achieved on the pitch must feel like some sort of validation of his talent. Giovinco’s inability to find his feet at one of the biggest clubs in the world could be down to a litany of factors, but his talent and skill level isn’t one of them. Environment plays a large role, and this season he’s shown just how much his play has been buoyed by the freedom he’s been granted.

And that’s not an assertion solely limited to the MLS. Fruitful loan spells bookmarked by inconsistent outings with the Juventus had become synonymous with the Italian wizard. At Empoli and Parma, where he was the main man and allowed to dictate the play in the final third, he thrived.  Perhaps he would have never gotten this in Europe at the highest level, but he’s surely gotten it in Toronto.

And it’s this that could be a major influencer for many European talents. The ‘Atomic Ant” could actually be the first domino in a newfound trend, showcasing that even if the MLS is still a growing league (and there is still a massive amount of work to be done) it can provide an experience that many players could be pining for – experience they’re unable to find in the cutthroat world of European soccer.

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MLS can provide the type of wages, freedom and, ultimately, the comfort that many talented European players may feel entitled to yet can’t seem to find. The fact that Giovani Dos Santos decided to leave a very decent Villarreal side for the La Galaxy, and that Real Sociedad’s Carlos Vela has also shown interest in MLS shows that there’s certainly been a shift in the perception of the league. In the future, it wouldn’t be surprising to see player archetypes like Mario Balotelli seriously considering the enticing idea of being a bigger fish in a smaller pond.

This, of course, isn’t completely ideal, but it’s a means to an end. MLS wants to be a league that at least for the immediate future can boast some of the best talent in the Americas, not Europe’s castaways. But Giovinco’s impact in the league has certainly been a huge benefit in spite of the constant derision from European fans that he’s become a flat-track bully.

Now, there is no guarantee that other players will adapt as well as the Italian has. His attitude on and off the pitch, especially his relationship with the city of Toronto and its players, has been a big part of his success.

Some have even asked if Giovinco could be on the move back to Europe, but that in itself is a far-fetched claim. At a salary of $7 million, he’s easily out earning some of the top European talents (his former teammate and budding phenom Paul Pogba makes approximately $5 million). There isn’t really a team that would be willing to pay so much for Giovinco’s services, not to mention it’s doubtful Giovinco would want to give up his high wages in the middle of his prime. Secondly, Giovinco is enjoying becoming the de facto international face of the league, something he would likely struggle to achieve in Europe.

The diminutive Italian is finally revered and praised in the way his talent likely deserves. Sure, to the outside world it’s “lower” competition, and he’s a big fish in a small pond. But for the player himself, taking the entirety of his career into account, it’s likely the happiest he’s ever been, and that elation likely works as a perfect counterbalance to any desire to return to Europe.

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Not to mention the impact that confidence and fan support can have on a player. And while to many of the more ardent European fans may view a player’s foray into the MLS in the middle of their prime as a cop out of sorts, for the players themselves it could be a safe haven.

There are serious benefits to playing in MLS, and the seemingly perfect marriage between Toronto FC and Giovinco — a club looking for a savior, and a player looking for an opportunity to shine unscrutinized– in many ways is a testament to how the uniqueness of MLS could be its biggest selling point.