Chelsea mercurial midfielder, N’Golo Kante was among the first 15 nominees for the prestigious Ballon d’Or award, with the full 30-man list to be unveiled on Monday. Also on the list is world most expensive playe, Neymar, who moved from Barcelona to PSG for a world record fee in summer. His fellow country man, Coutinho (Liverpool), whose move to s Spanisg ginat, Barca was thwarted by his club also made the shortlist.
Perennial winners Cristiano Ronaldo and his arch rival Lionel Messi, as usual also made the list. Both have won the award four and five times respectively.
The pair are expected to lead the running in 2017, although pundits tip Ronaldo to take the crown.
Ballon d’Or 2017 shortlist so far:
- Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
- Paulo Dybala (Juventus)
- N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)
- Marcelo (Real Madrid)
- Dries Mertens (Napoli)
- Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
- Neymar (PSG)
- Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)
- Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
- Luis Suarez (Barcelona)
- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
- Harry Kane (Tottenham)
- Robert Lewandowski (Bayern munich)
- David De Gea (Manchester United)
- Edin Dzeko (Roma)
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