Lionel Messi snubbed as seven Man Utd and Liverpool stars on 30-man Ballon dOr shortlist

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Lionel Messi has been snubbed in the Ballon d’Or shortlist for the first time since 2005. A 30-man shortlist for the prestigious award includes several Premier League stars from the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool. 

Messi’s fierce rival Cristiano Ronaldo is on the shortlist despite Man Utd’s disastrous 2021-22 campaign. Ronaldo enjoyed a decent personal season, scoring 24 goals across all competitions. 

The Portugal icon is joined in being nominated by six players from Liverpool. Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Darwin Nunez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho and Luis Diaz are all in with a chance of winning the award. 

Messi has not been shortlisted for the first time in 17 years, in a clear changing of the guard at the top of elite football. The record eight-times Ballon d’Or winner endured an underwhelming first season at Paris Saint-Germain after joining from Barcelona. 

The Argentine scored just six Ligue 1 goals in 2021-22, and strick only 11 times across all competitions. However, he did record 15 assists as PSG regained the French league title. 

Messi controversially won his seventh Ballon d’Or last year, pipping Robert Lewandowski to the award. The 35-year-old becomes the second player not to feature on the 30-man shortlist the year after winning the gong. The previous player was Luka Modric, who won the Ballon d’Or in 2018 but was not nominated the following year. 

Manchester City have six nominees. New signing Erling Haaland makes the cut having enjoyed an excellent campaign with Borussia Dortmund. The Norwegian scored twice on his Premier League debut against West Ham last weekend. 

Bernardo Silva, Kevin de Bruyne, Joao Cancelo and Riyad Mahrez are shortlisted. City midfielder Phil Foden is one of only two England players to feature, alongside Alexander-Arnold and Harry Kane. 

Kane’s Tottenham team-mate Son Heung-min makes up the Premier League representation. 

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