Ballon d’Or 2023: Man Utd & Man City players nominated alongside Arsenal & Liverpool stars

Eight Manchester-based players have been nominated for the 2023 Ballon d’Or.

The 30-man shortlist was announced on Wednesday and in the season Manchester City claimed the treble, it was no surprise to see an abundance of names from Pep Guardiola’s squad up for the annual prize.

Seven City players were included in the shortlist, with Erling Haaland many people’s favourite. Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri are also expected to feature highly in the 2023 rankings, while Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva and Julian Alvarez are also in the running. There is one other star man associated with City on the list, with treble-winning captain Ilkay Gundogan nominated - the German international moved to Barcelona last summer.

As for Manchester United, they only have one nominee: Andre Onana. The goalkeeper was selected for his impressive displays last season in helping Inter Milan reach the Champions League final. There was some surprise that Marcus Rashford didn’t make the cut, despite his 30-goal haul in 2022/23.

The Ballon d’Or recognises the best individual player over the past season, having previously been an award based on the calendar year. Therefore, it was no surprise to see two Arsenal players on the list, with Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard named, while Mohamed Salah and Emiliano Martinez have also been nominated.

The latter has been selected in part for his performances at the World Cup last year, with Lionel Messi also included in the 30-man group. He will be hoping to win an eighth Ballon d’Or of his career, while long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo has not been named on the shortlist for the first time in 20 years.

The winner will be announced on 30 October at the award ceremony in Paris, as will the female Ballon d'Or award, plus the Kopa Trophy and Yashin Trophy.

Full list of nominees for 2023 Ballon d’Or

Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig/Manchester City & Croatia), Andre Onana (Inter Milan/Manchester United & Cameroon), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/Al-Ittihad), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool & Eygpt), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich & Germany ), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) , Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt/Paris Saint-Germain & France), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund/Real Madrid England), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City & Belgium), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City & Portugal), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli & Georgia), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa & Argentina), Ruben Dias (Manchester City & Portugal), Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan & Italy), Erling Haaland (Manchester City & Norway), Martin Odegaard (Arsenal & Norway), Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City/Barcelona & Germany), Yassine Bounou (Sevilla/Al-Hilal & Morocco), Julian Alvarez (Manchester City & Argentina), Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid & Brazil), Rodri (Manchester City & Spain), Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain/Inter Miami & Argentina), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid & France), Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan & Argentina), Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona & Poland), Kim Min-jae (Napoli/Bayern Munich & South Korea), Luka Modric (Real Madrid & Croatia), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-German & France), Victor Osimhen (Napoli & Nigeria), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur/Bayern Munich & England)