Ballon d’Or contenders announced with ‘leak’ proving correct for 14 Prem stars
The highly-anticipated 30-man shortlist for this year's Ballon d'Or was leaked on social media on Friday before the official list was confirmed by France Football.
The longlist is dominated by Premier League stars from five different clubs, with Chelsea's Champions League heroics and England's run to the final of Euro 2020 both playing a part.
Fans of Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool will also be keeping a keen eye on proceedings, with 14 of the 30 names playing their football on our shores.
With the list announced gradually on Friday evening, those named did not come as a surprise to many with the details leaked on social media earlier in the day.
With five players from Serie A making the cut, La Liga has the same amount of nominations with only four coming from Ligue 1 and just two stars who play in the Bundesliga.
The 2021 Ballon d'Or nominees will be cut down to three before the final ceremony, with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo still both among the frontrunners as well as the prolific Robert Lewandowski.
With both Messi and Ronaldo failing to win league titles last season and changing clubs in the summer, Lewandowski won his seventh consecutive Bundesliga with an astounding 41 goals in 29 games.
Messi and Ronaldo have won the award six and five times respectively, with Luka Modric the only other player to lift the famous golden football since Kaka in 2007.
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Premier League
Cesar Azpilicueta, N'Golo Kante, Romelu Lukaku, Mason Mount, Jorginho, Ruben Dias, Kevin de Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez, Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes
Serie A
Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Nicolo Barella, Simon Kjaer, Lautaro Martinez
La Liga
Pedri, Luis Suarez, Gerard Moreno, Karim Benzema, Luka Modric
Ligue 1
Kylian Mbappe, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Lionel Messi, Neymar
Bundesliga
Robert Lewandowski, Erling Haaland
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