This Friday, UEFA announced the 12 nominees, three for each position, that could receive awards based on last years performances
The 12 players were decided by a voting system. The jury was made up of coaches from the 32 clubs and 55 journalists representing UEFA’s member associations.
The five players that were nominated for champions Chelsea were Edouard Mendy, Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Antonio Rudiger, and N’Golo Kante.
This has been an unpredictably amazing year for Jorginho who struggled for game time at the start of the season. He has now become the driving force that won Chelsea a Champions League and Italy win the Euro 2020.
Many are claiming that the Italian maestro deserves to be in with a shout for the Balon d’Or award this year for his achievements.
Jorginho won summer 🏆🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/zTBBprkevb
— B/R Football (@brfootball) August 11, 2021
Runners-up Manchester City who lost the final 1-0 to a Kai Havertz finish also has three players named on the list: Ederson, Ruben Dias, and Kevin De Bruyne.
The beaten semi-finalists Real Madrid and Paris Saint Germain each have one player on the list, Thibaut Courtois and Kylian Mbappe.
Two Bundesliga strikers finished the list, Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski and Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland. The young Norweigan forward finished as last years Champions League top goalscorer.
🇧🇻⚡| Erling Haaland is nominated for the best forward award of the past Champions League season.#BVB pic.twitter.com/bmHdjwCeJp
— BVB Newsblog (@bvbnewsblog) August 13, 2021
Some notable exclusions from the nominees’ list are Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Neymar.
Messi finished in fourth place in the voting as Barcelona was knocked out by Chelsea in the quarter-finals. Ronaldo did not even manage to finish in the top 10 as Juventus crashed out to Porto in the quarters.
Neymar on the other hand was considered to not have made a major impact on PSG’s season. He did manage six goals and two assists for the club in nine games as he neglected to play in the French league.
The winners of the best goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, and forward award will be announced at the Champions League group-stage draw in Istanbul in two weeks’ time.
List of nominees
Goalkeeper: Ederson (Man City), Edouard Mendy (Chelsea), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid).
Defender: Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea), Cezar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Ruben Dias (Man City).
Attacker: Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund), Kylian Mbappe (PSG), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich).
Super Cup shoot-out drama in full 🍿
🔵 Kepa = Chelsea's hero 🧤@kepa_46 | #SuperCup pic.twitter.com/FxxlMay4uw
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 13, 2021
