Kante, Jorginho And De Bruyne To Battle For UEFA Men’s Player Of The Year
Europe’s football governing body have announced a three-man shortlist for the UEFA Men’s player of the year award, with Chelsea duo N’golo Kante and Jorginho as well as Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne all in contention.
The three nominees mean that for the second straight season, neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo have made it to the podium for the award.
De Bruyne is the only one out of the trio to have been nominated last season as well.
Kante won man-of-the match awards in both semi-finals and final against Real Madrid and Manchester City respectively as Chelsea won their second Champions League title. He also helped the Blues win the UEFA Super Cup against Villarreal last week.
In addition to winning the Champions League and Super Cup, Jorginho played a key role to help Italy win EURO 2020 at the expense of England at Wembley.
De Bruyne helped Manchester City reach their first Champions League final which ended in defeat but he won the PFA Player of the year for the second straight season for helping Pep Guardiola’s side reclaim the Premier League title.
The winner will be announced on August 26 when the UEFA Champions League group stage draw takes place in Istanbul, Turkey.
Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski won the UEFA Men’s player of the year in the 2019/2020 season, beating De Bruyne and Manuel Neuer to the award after helping the Bavarians to their sixth European crown.
Elsewhere, Thomas Tuchel, Roberto Mancini and Guardiola will battle for the UEFA Men’s Coach Of the Year award.
