Arsenal star Sanchez, not Chelsea ace Hazard, should be on Ballon d’Or shortlist

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Why Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez should be on the Ballon d’Or shortlist ahead of Eden Hazard.

The Ballon d’Or shortlist has been announced, and there is no place on it for Mesut Ozil this year.

No Arsenal players feature, although there is a solid case that new signing Alexis Sanchez should be included, instead of Chelsea’s Eden Hazard.

This season alone, Sanchez has outscored Hazard with five goals rather than one, and has more assists in the Premier League, two to one.

The South American has instantly adapted to life in England, and proving why he was worthy of Arsenal spending £30 million on him.

Sanchez’s form for Barcelona last season is also overlooked; he scored 19 goals in La Liga in 2013/14, and provided 10 assists. Eden Hazard scored 14 goals and created seven for Chelsea during the same period.

At the World Cup, Alexis Sanchez also shone for Chile, with even Eden Hazard admitting he was underwhelmed by his own displays. While not terrible, he did not live up to his star billing, nor did he strike a convincing case really to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or.

None of the above is to diminish Hazard’s talents, but rather as evidence to suggest that this nomination is too soon, when there is a player in Sanchez who is more deserving.

Ballon d’Or nominations: Gareth Bale (Wales), Karim Benzema (France), Diego Costa (Spain), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Angel Di Maria (Argentina), Mario Goetze (Germany), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Toni Kroos (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Mueller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Paul Pogba (France), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), James Rodriguez (Colombia), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Yaya Toure (Côte d’Ivoire).