This year's Ballon d'Or will more than likely end up in the hands of either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo again, but according to Spanish paper El Mundo Deportivo, the shortlist for the award has already been set.
They claim to have gotten their hands on a leaked version of the names that will be in consideration for the award, and there are plenty of Premier League players on it.
Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho makes the cut, while Wayne Rooney of Manchester United and Diego Costa of Chelsea are all included, along with Tottenham's Harry Kane, who had a stunning debut season last year.
Champions League finalists Juventus were also represented with nominations for Andrea Pirlo and Paul Pogba along with a few others, but Real Madrid and Barcelona once again lead the way with seven players each on the list, chief among them Messi and Ronaldo.
There are a couple of strange names that stand out from the list, in particular Massimo Luongo of Swindon Town or Christian Atsu of Chelsea/Everton/Bournemouth, which would make the average fan question this list, but then again, why would a paper trying to sell loads of copies lie about having an exclusive, leaked document? What would they have to gain?
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