Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi set to fight for Uefa's best European player gong - as Will Grigg ties with Paul Pogba
Uefa have revealed their nominations for the continent’s best player - with a few surprises
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Your support makes all the difference.Will Grigg’s cult status continues to blaze after the Wigan Athletic striker was named by Uefa as the joint 25th best player in Europe, level with Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba.
The European governing body have revealed their nominations for the title of the continent’s best player, featuring usual suspects Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, in a list including new entries Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy.
The Leicester City pair were in scintillating form as the Foxes stunned the football community to lift the Premier League title, defying 5,000/1 odds, and both are placed above former team-mate N’Golo Kante, who joined Chelsea for £30m on Saturday.
The list, compiled by journalists from across Europe, puts Wigan’s 28-goal hero Grigg level with Juventus centre-back Giorgio Chiellini, Atletico Madrid’s Diego Godin and Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
But the biggest surprise is the parity he shares with Pogba, said to be in the process of securing a world-record £100m transfer back to Manchester United after leaving Old Trafford on Sir Alex Ferguson’s watch in 2012.
Journalists were asked to rank their personal five best players across the entirety of last season and the top 10, as yet unranked, will be settled in August as a judging panel decides who will be crowned Europe’s best footballer.
Messi is the holder of that title but an indifferent season blighted by injury and off-field strife means it is unlikely to Argentine will retain the honour, especially after the Champions League and European Championship winning exploits of rival Ronaldo.
| The Uefa top 30 best players in Europe |
|---|
| Top 10 (alphabetical order, decided next month) |
| Gareth Bale, Real Madrid |
| Gianluigi Buffon, Juventus |
| Antoine Grezmann, Atletico Madrid |
| Toni Kroos, Real Madrid |
| Lionel Messi, Barcelona |
| Thomas Muller, Bayern Munich |
| Manuel Neuer, Bayern Munich |
| Pepe, Real Madrid |
| Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid |
| Luis Suarez, Barcelona |
| 11-30 best players in Europe |
| 11. Riyad Mahrez, Leicester City |
| 12. Jamie Vardy, Leicester City |
| 13. Dimitri Payet, West Ham United |
| 14. Jerome Boateng, Bayern Munich |
| 15. Arturo Vidal, Bayern Munich |
| 16. Luka Modric, Real Madrid |
| 17. N'Golo Kante, Chelsea |
| 18. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Manchester United |
| 19= Eden Hazard, Chelsea |
| 19= Andreas Iniesta, Barcelona |
| 19= Neymar, Barcelona |
| 19= Renato Sanches, Bayern Munich |
| 23. Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich |
| 24. Gonzalo Higuain, Napoli |
| 25= Giorgio Chiellini, Juventus |
| 25= Diego Godin, Atletico Madrid |
| 25= Will Grigg, Wigan Athletic |
| 25= Paul Pogba, Juventus |
| 25= Hugo Lloris, Tottenham Hotspur |
| 30= Toby Alderweireld, Tottenham Hotspur |
| 30= Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Borussia Dortmund |
| 30= Kevin de Bruyne, Manchester City |
| 30= Kevin Gameiro, Sevilla |
| 30= Grzegorz Krychowiak, Paris Saint-Germain |
| 30= Blaise Matuidi, Paris Saint-Germain |
| 30= Georges-Kevin N'Koudou, Marseille |
| 30= Jan Oblak, Atletico Madrid |
Elsewhere in the top 10 are Gareth Bale, the Madrid forward, his club team-mate Toni Kroos, Juventus shot-stopper Gianluigi Buffon and Atletico winger Antoine Griezmann.
Bayern Munich pair Thomas Muller and Manuel Neuer also feature while Pepe, the Madrid defender, and Barcelona striker Luis Suarez join Messi and Ronaldo to complete the list of candidates with a shot to win the award.
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