De Bruyne, Haaland, Messi nominated for UEFA player award

UEFA, the European football governing body, has announced the nomination of Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Lionel Messi for the 2022/23 Men’s Player of the Year Award.

The nominees were unveiled via a statement on Thursday.

“UEFA has announced the names of the top three nominees for the 2022/23 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award,” the statement reads.

According to UEFA, its technical study group made the shortlist based on the performance of players in the 2022/23 season.

Performances for both club and country were considered.

The group trimmed the nominees to three via the votes of a jury consisting of coaches of clubs that participated in the group stage of European club competitions last season.

National team coaches and selected journalists’ groups completed the jury.

Haaland and De Bruyne were instrumental in an all-conquering Manchester City side that claimed a brilliant treble — English Premier League (EPL), FA Cup and UEFA Champions League titles.

Messi, on the other hand, won the World Cup for Argentina and made the list despite a poor season at Paris Saint-Germain by his standards.

Other players who received votes but did not make the three-man cut include İlkay Gündoğan, Rodri, Kylian Mbappé, Luka Modrić, Marcelo Brozović, Declan Rice, Alexis Mac Allister, and Jesús Navas.

The winner will be announced at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, on Thursday, August 31.