Ballon d'Or 2016 shortlist nominees for the world's best player revealed

Britain Soccer Football - Chelsea v Manchester United - Premier League - Stamford Bridge - 23/10/16 Manchester United's Zlatan Ibrahimovic looks dejected at the end of the match Reuters / Eddie Keogh Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY.

More here on the inclusion of Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the 30-strong shortlist.

The Manchester United striker arrived in the Premier League this summer after four years with Paris Saint-Germain in which he won every possible domestic honour.

He confirmed his place in PSG history with a raft of records, including becoming their top goalscorer of all-time in all competitions, their top score in Ligue 1 and the first player to be top scorer in three seasons.

In 2016 he scored the most Ligue 1 goals in a season (38) and netted the fastest-ever hat-trick in just nine minutes.

He also levelled with Vahid Halihodzic as the man with the longest consecutive run of scoring games.

 

The next five names on the Ballon d’Or shortlist are:

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG/Manchester United)

Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)

Koke (Atletico Madrid)

Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)

Robert Lewandowski (Bayern)

So that a Ligue 1 champion, a Spanish champion, a European champion and a German champion.

Oh, and Koke - who was absolutely brilliant last year.

The when/where/how for the final vote

Over to administration corner next for a quick reminder of how the final Ballon d’Or voting and presentation will go once we’ve got this shortlist out of the way.

And, er, there’s not a lot to tell you just yet. As the award has returned exclusively to France Football to dish out after teaming up with FIFA since 2010, details are somewhat thin on the ground.

The split came after a contract between the two organisations expired, so FIFA have not provided any details on a poorly-maintained section of their website devoted to the award.

But if it follows the usual format, we should expect to see the field trimmed down to just three candidates ahead of an official ceremony in January.

We will likely know more details by the end of the day though.

Will Bale be the sixth Brit to win the prize?

Gareth Bale has made the list and should the Welsh winger land the gong in January he will become only the sixth British player to loft up the award since it was created in 1956.

Sir Stanley Matthews won the very first Ballon d’Or in 1956 before Denis Law was award the trophy in 1964. Sir Bobby Charlton’s 1966 campaign was enough to see him hoist up the trophy, while his team-mate George Best won two years later.

Kevin Keegan is the only Brit to win twice, taking the plaudits in 1978 and 1979 while at Hamburg and Michael Owen was the eyebrow-raising victor in 2001.