- No fewer than ten Premier League players have been nominated for this year’s Ballon d’Or
- But only one player on the shortlist for the Yachin Award and a Liverpool player was a huge omission
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Liverpool fans are furious after a star player was brutally snubbed for the Yashin Trophy during Wednesday’s Ballon d’Or nominations.
As many as ten players from the competition were among the 30 nominees for the prestigious Ballon d’Or award, but only one player – Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez – was nominated for the Best Goalkeeper award.
Manchester City’s Rodri is among the favourites to win the player of the year award after his stellar performances for both club and country last season, winning his fourth Premier League title, reaching the FA Cup final and becoming European champions with Spain.
No English league player has won the award since 2008, when Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo took the honour, but many hope that will change at the ceremony in Paris on 28 October.
Supporters reacted angrily when a player was omitted from the list of nominees for the Yashin Trophy, with some claiming the competition was ‘rigged’.
Liverpool fans furious after Alisson was brutally rejected for the Yashin Trophy
Only one Premier League star – Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez – was nominated for the best goalkeeper award
Manchester City midfielder Rodri leads Premier League battle to win Ballon d’Or
The last man from the English league to win the Ballon d’Or was Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008
Liverpool’s Alisson was somewhat of a surprise absence from the squad after leading the Anfield side to League Cup glory in manager Jurgen Klopp’s final season with a series of dominant performances in goal.
Samuel said: ‘It’s an absolute disgrace that Alisson has not been nominated for the Yachine Trophy again.’
An X user added: ‘Considering how good we were last season this is a disgrace.’
A third posted: ‘Another robbery, as always…’
Meanwhile, another user said unequivocally: ‘Absolutely outrageous that we don’t have the best goalkeeper in the world.’
Alisson has had another excellent year, helping Liverpool to victory in the League Cup and being a regular in the Reds side that finished third in the league.
However, Klopp’s team disappointed in the Europa League, where they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Atalanta. His Brazil team were also knocked out of the Copa America early at the same stage by Uruguay.
Alisson was the first winner of the trophy, which is only open to goalkeepers, when he lifted it in 2019. Last time, it was Martinez who collected the prize after his performances led Argentina to an improbable World Cup triumph.
Liverpool fans have reacted angrily to Alisson being left off the list of nominees for the Yashin Trophy
The other nominees are Diogo Costa (FC Porto), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund), Andriy Lunin (Real Madrid), Mike Maignan (AC Milan), Giorgi Mamardashvili (Valencia), Unai Simon ( Athletic Bilbao), Yann Sommer (Inter Milan) and Ronwen Williams (Mamelodi Sundowns).
Last year, Lionel Messi won the Ballon d’Or for a record eighth time after Argentina won the World Cup. Erling Haaland was second thanks to his many goals for Manchester City, and Kylian Mbappé came third thanks to a hat-trick in the World Cup final.
This year’s favourites include Rodri and Real Madrid trio Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe, who played for Paris Saint-Germain last year, and Lionel Messi, who is in contention for a record renewal of a ninth Ballon d’Or after leading Argentina to the Copa America last summer.