Jorginho, Kevin De Bruyne and N’Golo Kante beat Lionel Messi as Europe’s three top stars in line to win UEFA Player of the Year… with Thomas Tuchel battling Pep Guardiola for the coaching prize
- The final shortlist for the UEFA Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year is now out
- Champions League finalists Chelsea and Man City dominate the standings
- Jorginho, N’Golo Kante and Kevin De Bruyne are set to battle it out for the prize
- Lionel Messi has been overlooked despite a sublime season with Barcelona
The final shortlist for the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year has been revealed, with Chelsea and Manchester City dominating proceedings.
Both Champions League finalists boast players which make up the final three places for the prestigious award, with Jorginho, N’Golo Kante and Kevin De Bruyne set to battle it out for the honour.
The three midfielders have been given the nod ahead of Lionel Messi and each received more votes, despite his sublime final season with Barcelona and his triumphs with the Argentina national team.
Jorginho, N’Golo Kante and Kevin De Bruyne are set to battle it out for UEFA’s main solo prize
The final three players were determined by a voting jury comprising 24 coaches of the teams which participated in this summer’s UEFA EURO 2020, along with 80 coaches of the clubs that participated in the group stages of last season’s Champions League (32) and UEFA Europa League (48).
In addition, 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group were also permitted to cast their vote on the subject, one from each of UEFA’s member associations.
Voters selected their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one.
As part of the rules coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
A full run-down of the players was released by the football body, with the rest of the top 10 revealed.
The players who missed out, in placed order were: Messi, Robert Lewandowski, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Kylian Mbappe, Raheem Sterling, Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland.
UEFA announced both their men’s and women’s shortlist on Thursday, with Emma Hayes going up for the Coach of the Year award.
For the men’s Coach of the Year, both Thomas Tuchel and Pep Guardiola will be do battle for the big honour, along with Italy’s Euro 2020 winning manager Roberto Mancini.
As is now customary, UEFA also named the nominees for their individual playing positions for the past season.
The Goalkeeper of the Year award will be contested between Thibaut Courtois, Ederson and Edouard Mendy.
Chelsea and City once again dominate the defenders category, with Cezar Azpilicueta battling against team-mate Antonio Rudiger and Ruben Dias.
The Midfielder of the Year award is naturally a straight replica of the main Player of the Year running, with De Bruyne, Jorginho and Kante again facing off.
Kante (right) and Man City’s De Bruyne will be in the running for the honour on August 26
Jorginho enjoyed a trophy-laden year with the Champions League, Euro 2020 and Super Cup
Bayern Munich’s goalscoring machine Robert Lewandowski is the clear favourite for the strikers award, with Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe also in the running.
A specific award will also focus on last season’s Europa League campaign, to reward the player who performed best in UEFA’s second tier European competition.
After Manchester United surged to the final and met Villarreal in Gdansk, both sides naturally boast players in the final three.
Striker Edinson Cavani has been voted in alongside Bruno Fernandes, with Spanish striker Gerard Moreno making up the final place.
