Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho has joined stars from clubs such as Chelsea, Real Madrid and Juventus in being nominated for the 2017 Ballon d’Or.
Twitter: The next 5 nominees for the 2017 Ballon d’Or France Football : Suarez, Ramos, Oblak, Coutinho, Mertens #ballondor https://t.co/7XCOGGOmed (@francefootball)
A 30-man shortlist for the most prestigious individual award in football is to be gradually revealed up until 18:30 BST on Monday, coming in batches of five players, as above.
Twitter: The first 5 nominees for the 2017 Ballon d’Or France Football : Neymar, Luka Modrić, Paulo Dybala, Marcelo, N’Golo… https://t.co/fQSGAypjMC (@francefootball)
At the time of writing, there are 20 more players to be revealed — at which point we will know who Coutinho is competing with for the award.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the understandable favourite for the Ballon d’Or, having scored 12 goals as Real Madrid became the first team to win the Champions League in back-to-back seasons — and he also helped Los Blancos to the 2016-17 La Liga title, less than a year after winning the European Championships with Portugal.
Between 2010 and 2015, the award was merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year award, but that agreement between the world football governing body and France Football (who award the Ballon d’Or) has now ended.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi are the only two players to have won the Ballon d’Or since 2008.
The last player from the Premier League to win the award was Liverpool’s Michael Owen back in 2001 — the young striker beat Raul and Oliver Kahn to the accolade.
Owen is the only Liverpool player to have won the award; whilst Philippe Coutinho will be hoping that he can become the fifth Brazilian to pick up the golden ball, after Kaka, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Rivaldo.
