Neymar was named alongside Cristiano
Ronaldo and Lionel Messi on the three-man shortlist for the Best FIFA
Men’s Player Award, which was announced in London on Friday.
Brazil
superstar Neymar, 25, won the Copa del Rey with Barcelona last season
before joining Paris Saint-Germain in a blockbuster 222 million euros
($266 million) move that smashed the world transfer record.
Ronaldo,
32, is the overwhelming favourite to win the award, having led Real
Madrid to the La Liga title and a third Champions League success in four
years last season.
He won last year’s award after winning the Champions League with Madrid and the European Championship with Portugal.
Ronaldo previously won the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2008 and is a four-time winner of the Ballon d’Or.
Messi, 30, scored 54 goals last season as Barcelona won the Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup.
The
Argentina great, a record five-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, has made
a superb start to the current campaign, scoring 12 goals in his first
eight appearances in all competitions.
Ronaldo won the inaugural
Best FIFA Men’s Player Award last year after a six-year merger between
the FIFA honour and the Ballon d’Or.
The shortlist for the Best
FIFA Women’s Player award comprises Venezeula’s Deyna Castellanos, Carli
Lloyd of the United States and Dutch player Lieke Martens.
Real
Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane goes head to head with Chelsea’s Antonio Conte
and Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri for the top coach award.
Veteran
Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is shortlisted for the Best FIFA
Goalkeeper prize alongside Keylor Navas of Real Madrid and Bayern
Munich’s Manuel Neuer.
The winner of the 2017 awards will be announced during a ceremony at the London Palladium on October 23.
The
voting for the award, equally weighted between national team captains,
national team coaches, media and fans, closed earlier this month
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