Veteran Italian goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon, has been named among the three nominees for the 2016/17 Uefa Men’s Player of the Year Award. Buffon joined Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the award with the winner to be named during the group stage draw on 24 August.
The 39-year-old Buffon was a key member of the Juventus side that reached last season’s Champions League final, but he missed out on a first winner’s medal as the Italians were beaten 4-1 by Ronaldo’s Real Madrid in Cardiff.
The shortlist of three players was selected by a jury comprising the 80 coaches of the clubs which participated in the group stage of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, along with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, representing each of UEFA’s member associations.
UEFA’s Men’s Player of the Year Award recognises the best players, irrespective of nationality, playing for a club within the territory of a UEFA member association during the past season. Players are judged on their performances in all competitions – domestic, continental and international.
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi has won the award twice, as has Portuguese forward Ronaldo.
Since its inception in 2011, unlike other similar individual awards, the Uefa accolade has not been totally dominated by Ronaldo and Messi. Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta won the honour in 2012, followed by French winger Franck Ribery a year later.
Real Madrid, who have lifted the European Cup in three of the past four seasons, had four players in the top 10, with Luka Modric fourth, Toni Kroos fifth and Sergio Ramos seventh.
Argentinian forward Paulo Dybala joined his Juve team-mate Buffon in being named, while Monaco’s rising teenage star Kylian Mbappe, Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski and former Manchester United forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic rounded out the top 10.
Luis Suarez, who scored 37 goals for Barcelona in all competitions last season, missed out, as did his former team-mate Neymar, who has since joined Paris Saint-Germain in a world-record €222 million move.
