One Arsenal man was omitted from the Ballon d’Or shortlist, while two Liverpool stars were included.
Arsenal fans are furious that Alexis Sanchez was not included in the 30-man Ballon d’Or shortlist – and that Liverpool pair Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane were.
The Chilean has been comfortably Arsenal’s best player in 2017 and managed 16 goals in the second half of last season to help the Gunners to FA Cup glory.
But Sanchez hasn’t been his usual rip-roaring self since the 28-year-old saw a deadline-day transfer to Manchester City collapse and has failed to score in five Premier League outings so far this season.
Coutinho, meanwhile, has 14 goals for Liverpool and Brazil this year – including three in the Champions League and Premier League despite him also failing to secure a summer transfer to Barcelona – whereas the Senegal international has netted 12 times for club and country since January.
It seems unlikely that the Liverpool duo will be around when the nominations are wittled down to just three but Arsenal fans on Twitter are incensed nonetheless.
Journalists, along with the managers and captains of the national teams under FIFA’s jurisdiction, are charged with the task of selecting the winner every year.
Nobody outside of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo was won the award since Kaka managed it in 2007. Ronaldo, a Champions League and Euro 2016 winner, scooped the award for a fourth time last year ahead of his Argentine rival, who has won it on five occasions and his last coming in 2015.
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