UEFA Announce Shortlist Of Players For 2016 Team Of The Year

UEFA have announced the 40 players who are eligible to feature in this year's Team of the Year.

There is plenty of presence from the Premier League, with 12 players in total nominated from England's top tier.

French quartet Laurent Koscielny, Dmitri Payet, N'Golo Kante and Paul Pogba all on the shortlist. Belgian duo Kevin De Bruyne and Toby Alderweireld also feature along with Premier League winner Riyad Mahrez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Aaron Ramsey, Alexis Sanchez, Sergio Aguero and most importantly, Stoke City midfielder and all-round great bloke Joe Allen getting a look in.

Joe Allen

The bulk of the shortlist is made up from the very best players from Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Antoine Griezmann are all included, as expected.

There are plenty of surprise omissions though. David De Gea, despite saving Manchester United is not nominated. The same can be said for Philippe Coutinho and Harry Kane.

Unbelievable, four players who were in the 2015 Team Of The Year are not nominated this time around, with Manuel Neuer, Dani Alves, David Alaba and James Rodriguez nowhere to be seen.

Here is the 40-man shortlist in full:

Goalkeepers: Rui Patricio (Sporting), Keylor Navas (Real Madrid), Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid), Gigi Buffon (Juventus)

Defenders: Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), Pepe (Real Madrid), Juanfran (Atletico Madrid), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid, Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich)

Midfielders: Dimitri Payet (West Ham), Yannick Carrasco (Atletico Madrid), Paul Pogba (Man United), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester), Kevin De Bruyne (Man City), Joe Allen (Stoke), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), Toni Kroos, (Real Madrid), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), N'Golo Kante (Chelsea), Grzegorz Krychowiak (PSG)

Strikers: Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Luis Suarez (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Man United), Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus) Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund), Neymar (Barcelona), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal), Sergio Aguero (Man City)

Do let us know what 11-a-side team you would pick from that list of players, in the comments below.

Topics: Football, UEFA, Team Of The Year

Josh Lawless

Josh is a writer who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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