France Football have just named the first five nominees for the Ballon d’Or 2017 and will drip feed the public with the remaining 25 names thoughout Monday.
Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante amazingly has been named among the first five nominees for the award, which unfortunately has been won by either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi for the past nine years.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Neymar, Real Madrid duo Marcelo and Luka Modric, and Paulo Dybala of Juventus have also made the shortlist of 30.
The remaining 25 names on the shortlist will be revealed in stages until 7:30 p.m.
The Ballon d’Or is judged solely by a panel of journalists after FIFA and France Football ended their partnership in 2015.
Portugal star Ronaldo picked up his fourth Ballon d’Or last year to move one behind Messi and he is odds-on favourite to make it five this time around. He has played wonderfully this year. Let's see if he will get it.
Ballon d’Or 2017 shortlist so far
Paulo Dybala (Juventus)
N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)
Marcelo (Real Madrid)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
Neymar (PSG)
