Colombia star James Rodriguez is one of ten elite players to have made the shortlist for the prestigious ‘Best Player in Europe’ award following his outstanding displays of form in the World Cup competition this summer.
Having captivated spectators on his World Cup platform in Brazil, Colombia and AS Monaco’s poster boy is hitting headlines amidst reports of his pending move from the Ligue 1 glamour club to Real Madrid.
Should the deal complete, the 22-year-old will join fellow Best Player nominees Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel di Maria at the Bernabau.
Spanish ace Diego Costa, who has just signed to Chelsea from Atletico Madrid for a mammouth fee of £34m, is up for nomination along with Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, who won the World Cup Golden Boot award earlier this month.
The latest sensation to rock up in Catalan – the ever-controversial Luis Suarez – has just completed his move to Barca from Liverpool and is also in the running for the honour.
Following a stunning and well-deserved World Cup victory, the Germans have not gone unnoticed, bagging three of the ten places for Best Player in Europe.
Bayern Munich defender Philipp Lahm, midfielder Thomas Muller and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer are all hopefuls for the highly-celebrated award and a fourth Bayern star – Dutchman Arjen Robben – claims the tenth spot.
Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos, PSG’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Juventus’s Andrea Pirlo and Manchester City’s Yaya Toure all fell short of the top ten but fill the very respectable positions 11-15 in the Best Player in Europe ranking.
Three finalists will be determined by a jury which is made up of journalists from UEFA’s member associations and the winner will be declared following a live vote cast by the same panel at the Champions League group stage draw.