Brazilian superstar Neymar and three of his Paris Saint Germain (PSG) teammates were part of the 23-man nominees list released by professional footballers’ body, FIFPRO on Tuesday for the FIFPRO XI set to be revealed at the start of next year.
Messi, Neymar and Mbappe were joined in the attacking department by the quintet of Borussia Dortmund star ErlingHaaland, Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski, Real Madrid hitman Karim Benzema, Chelsea striker RomeluLukaku and Manchester United talisman Cristiano Ronaldo.
In the goalkeeping department, Euro 2020 winner Donnaruma of PSG was joined on the list by Liverpool shot stopper Alisson Becker and Senegalese international star Edouard Mendy who was instrumental for Chelsea on their way to winning the Champions League title last season. He was the undisputed first choice Chelsea goalkeeper as the West London giants sealed a 1-0 win over Premier League rivals Manchester City to win the Champions League title for only the second time in their history. German international Kai Havertz scored the winning goal for the Blues.
For the defence, Manchester City star Ruben Dias, Juventus star Leonardo Bonucci, Dani Alves (Barcelona), David Alaba (Real Madrid) Jordi Alba (Barcelona) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) all made the nominees list.
The Barcelona duo of Frenkie De Jong and Sergio Busquets have made the nominees list in the midfield area despite their average form in the colours of the Catalan giants this season. They are joined by four others namely Manchester United playmaker Bruno Fernandes, Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne and the Chelsea duo of N’GoloKante and Jorginho all made the list.