Big names in football world battle ready for UEFA best player of the year (Full list)

The football family is going to be excited once again as Real Madrid/Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, Barcelona/Argentina's Lionel Messi, Barcelona/Uruguay's Luis Suarez and Atletico Madrid/France's Antoinne Griezmann have been named as the top contenders for this year's UEFA Best player in Europe award.

On Monday, UEFA announced their top 10 players in Europe during 2015/2016 and also the shortlist of 37 players that all gained votes and on August 25, 2016, UEFA will announce it's best player in Europe.

Journalists from each of UEFA's 55 member associations provided a list of their five best-ranked players, with the first receiving five points, the second four and so on. The ten players with the most points advance to the second vote, which will determine the three finalists to be named on 5 August.

The top 10 (in no particular order) is as follows:

Gareth Bale (Real Madrid & Wales)

Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus & Italy)

Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid & France)

Toni Kroos (Real Madrid & Germany)

Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina)

Thomas Müller (Bayern München & Germany)

Manuel Neuer (Bayern München & Germany)

Pepe (Real Madrid & Portugal)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid & Portugal)

Luis Suárez (Barcelona & Uruguay)

37 players picked up votes in the initial poll by UEFA; those not in the final shortlist are revealed below in order of how they finished:

11 Riyad Mahrez (Leicester & Algeria)

12 Jamie Vardy (Leicester & England)

13 Dimitri Payet (West Ham & France)

14 Jérôme Boateng (Bayern München & Germany)

15 Arturo Vidal (Bayern München & Chile)

16 Luka Modrić (Real Madrid & Croatia)

17 N'Golo Kanté (Leicester & France)

18 Zlatan Ibrahimović (Paris Saint-Germain/Manchester United & Sweden)

19. Eden Hazard (Chelsea & Belgium)

20. Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona & Spain)

21. Neymar (Barcelona & Brazil)

22. Renato Sanches (Benfica/Bayern München & Portugal)

23. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern München & Poland) 

24. Gonzalo Higuaín (Napoli & Argentina)

25. Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus & Italy)

26. Diego Godin (Atlético Madrid & Uruguay)

27. Will Grigg (Wigan & Northern Ireland)

28. Hugo Lloris (Tottenham & France)

29. Paul Pogba (Juventus & France)

30. Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham & Belgium)

31. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund & Gabon)

32. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City & Belgium)

33. Kevin Gameiro (Sevilla & France)

34. Grzegorz Krychowiak (Sevilla/Paris Saint-Germain & Poland)

35. Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain & France)

36. Georges-Kévin N'Koudou (Marseille & France)

37. Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid & Slovenia)

 

source LIB