The final shortlist for the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year has been revealed, with Chelsea and Manchester City dominating proceedings.
Both Champions League finalists boast players which make up the final three places for the prestigious award, with Jorginho, N’Golo Kante and Kevin De Bruyne set to battle it out for the honor.
The three midfielders have been given the nod ahead of Lionel Messi and each received more votes, despite the 34-year-old’s sublime final season with Barcelona and his triumphs with the Argentina national team.
The final three players were determined by a voting jury comprising 24 coaches of the teams that participated in this summer’s Euros, along with 80 coaches of the clubs that participated in the group stages of last season’s Champions League (32) and UEFA Europa League (48). ).
In addition, 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group were also permitted to cast their vote on the subject, one from each of UEFA’s member associations.
Voters selected their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one.
As part of the rules coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
A full run-down of the players was released by the football body, with the rest of the top 10 revealed.
The players who missed out, in placed order were: Messi, Robert Lewandowski, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Kylian Mbappe, Raheem Sterling, Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland.
UEFA announced both their men’s and women’s shortlist on Thursday, with Emma Hayes going up for the Coach of the Year award.
For the men’s Coach of the Year, both Thomas Tuchel and Pep Guardiola will do battle for the big honor, along with Italy’s Euro 2020 winning manager Roberto Mancini.
As is now customary, UEFA also named the nominees for their individual playing positions for the past season.
The Goalkeeper of the Year award will be contested between Thibaut Courtois, Ederson and Edouard Mendy.
Chelsea and City once again dominate the defender’s category, with Cesar Azpilicueta battling against team-mate Antonio Rudiger and Ruben Dias.
The Midfielder of the Year award is naturally a straight replica of the main Player of the Year running, with De Bruyne, Jorginho and Kante again facing off.
Bayern Munich’s goalscoring machine Robert Lewandowski is the clear favorite for the striker’s award, with Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe also in the running.
A specific award will also focus on last season’s Europa League campaign, to reward the player who performed best in UEFA’s second tier European competition.
After Manchester United surged to the final and met Villarreal in Gdansk, both sides naturally boast players in the final three.
Striker Edinson Cavani has been voted in alongside Bruno Fernandes, with Spanish striker Gerard Moreno making up the final place.