Virgil van Dijk and Lionel Messi lead the 30-man shortlist for the prestigious Ballon d’Or.
Van Dijk is the favourite to become the first defender since Fabio Cannavaro in 2016 to be awarded the historic Golden Ball with Messi hoping to win a record-breaking sixth title.
They were both amongst the list of 30 names confirmed as nominees on Monday night, with a heavy dose of Liverpool in the star-studded list.
Van Dijk is joined by Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Georginio Wijnaldum as seven members of Jurgen Klopp’s side were recognised after their Champions League success.
Five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo also features for a 16th time, with Kylian Mbappe looking to improve on his fourth placed finish in voting last year.
A host of Premier League stars feature including Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris and Heung-min Son plus Manchester City stars Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez.
Four of Ajax’s Champions League semi-finals side appeared, with youngsters Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs De Ligt, now with Barcelona and Juventus respectively, including alongside Donny van de Beek and Dusan Tadic.
Men’s Ballon d’Or nominees:
Sadio Mane, Sergio Aguero, Dusan Tadic, Hugo Lloris, Frenkie de Jong, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Kylian Mbappe, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Donny van de Beek, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Karim Benzema, Georginio Wijnaldum, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alisson and Matthijs de Ligt, Virgil van Dijk, Heung-min Son, Robert Lewandowski, Roberto Firmino, Bernardo Silva, Lionel Messi, Riyad Mahrez, Kevin De Bruyne, Kalidou Koulibaly, Antoine Griezmann, Eden Hazard, Mohamed Salah, Marquinhos, Joao Felix, Raheem Sterling.
