BY Victor Akhidenor
Yaya Toure and his Manchester City teammates Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne are among five Barclays Premier League players on the 23-man Ballon d’Or shortlist.
Eden Hazard of Chelsea and Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez are also in the frame to be named world football’s best player.
Ballon d’Or holder Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, who have won the past seven awards between them, lead the nominees.
Spain’s La Liga leads the way, with 11 players nominated, while Germany’s Bundesliga has six nominees. There are two from Italy’s Serie A and one – Paris St-Germain’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic – from France’s Ligue 1.
Players who have transferred during the past year are recognised for their contribution to both clubs.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger are on the 10-man Coach of the Year shortlist.
They will contend with Barcelona manager Luis Enrique and Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola.
FIFA Ballon d’Or shortlist
Sergio Aguero (Argentina/Manchester City), Gareth Bale (Wales/Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/VfL Wolfsburg/Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Belgium/Chelsea), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden/Paris Saint-Germain), Andres Iniesta (Spain/FC Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/FC Bayern Munich), Javier Mascherano (Argentina/FC Barcelona), Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona), Thomas Muller (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Neymar (Brazil/FC Barcelona), Paul Pogba (France/Juventus), Ivan Rakitic (Croatia/FC Barcelona), Arjen Robben (Netherlands/FC Bayern Munich), James Rodriguez (Colombia/Real Madrid), Alexis Sanchez (Chile/Arsenal), Luis Suarez (Uruguay/FC Barcelona), Yaya Toure (Cote d’Ivoire/Manchester City), Arturo Vidal (Chile/Juventus/FC Bayern Munich).
FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football shortlist
Massimiliano Allegri (Italy/Juventus), Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Real Madrid), Laurent Blanc (France/Paris Saint-Germain), Unai Emery (Spain/Sevilla FC), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Bayern Munich), Luis Enrique (Spain/FC Barcelona), Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Chelsea), Jorge Sampaoli (Argentina/Chilean national team), Diego Simeone (Argentina/Atletico Madrid), Arsene Wenger (France/Arsenal).
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