UEFA released their top 3 nominees for the Men’s Player of the Year Award. The top 3 nominees are – Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, and Kevin De Bruyne. The award ceremony will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on August 31. Messi who joined Inter Miami after leaving PSG in June, won the World Cup with Argentina in December last year. His contribution to the win was invaluable. On the other hand, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland were invaluable to the Manchester City team that won the treble last season.
Lionel Messi was a part of the PSG team last season. He won the French Super Cup trophy and his second Ligue 1 trophy with them last season. However, it was his contribution to the Argentine team at the FIFA World Cup, that caught UEFA’s attention. Messi scored seven goals throughout the World Cup campaign among which he netted twice in the final against France. He lost the Golden Boot award to Kylian Mbappe for scoring just one less goal than the French ace. However, he won the Golden Ball for the tournament’s best player.
Erling Haaland is one of the most talented footballers of this generation. He joined Manchester City at the beginning of last season from Borussia Dortmund. He set into the team by scoring one goal after another and did not stop on any account. At the end of the season, he was the record-breaking top goalscorer in the Premier League with 36 goals. He also became the top goalscorer in the Champions League with 12 goals. In the process, he became the quickest and youngest player to reach the 35-goal mark in the Champions League.
Kevin De Bruyne has been instrumental for Manchester City for years now. However, as the talented midfielder completed his 8th season with the English club, he helped them achieve the ultimate honour by winning the treble. This was also Man City’s first-ever Champions League trophy. He registered the most assists for the third time in the Premier League with 16 assists. He also registered the most assists in the Champions League last season with 7 in 10 appearances. He also bagged the Player of the Match award 4 times in the competition.
Lionel Messi won the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award twice on previous occasions. The award was created in 2011 and Messi won the award on its first edition. He next won the award in 2015 for his excellent performance in the 2014-15 season. He was nominated 4 more times in the top 3. He will be competing to equal Cristiano Ronaldo’s highest tally of 3 awards. Kevin De Bruyne was nominated only once before this, which was last year. This is the first nomination for Erling Haaland.
Other Players in the UEFA Men’s Player of The Year Top 11
4. İlkay Gündoğan (Germany & Manchester City, now at Barcelona)
5. Rodri (Spain & Manchester City)
6. Kylian Mbappé (France & Paris)
7. Luka Modrić (Croatia & Real Madrid)
8. Marcelo Brozović (Croatia & Inter, now at Al Nassr)
9. Declan Rice (England & West Ham, now at Arsenal)
10. Alexis Mac Allister (Argentina & Brighton, now at Liverpool)
11. Jesús Navas (Spain & Sevilla)
