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3. Ike Opara, Minnesota United
After enduring a tough and injury-plagued start to his MLS career, Ike Opara has been at the peak of his powers over the past few seasons. The tall and supremely athletic defender was named Defender of the Year in 2017 while playing for Sporting KC and even got a place in the Best XI. Another strong season in Kansas saw him called up to the USMNT where he earned his first (and to date, only) senior cap in a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
His move to Minnesota United in January 2019 didn’t affect his form at all - in fact, he enjoyed arguably the best year of his career to date and picked up the Defender of the Year award for the second time in three years. His arrival coincided with Minnesota conceding a staggering 40% fewer goals over the course of the season as well as the first playoff berth in franchise history. The 30-year-old will be hoping for 2020 to go much the same as 2019 at club level, with the addition of a few more international caps.
