Ex-Town ace Luongo on Ballon d’Or shortlist, claim leaked reports

It’s expected that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will be two of the final three, with the former tipped to win his third Ballon D’Or.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the current holder of the Ballon d’Or, which recognises the world’s leading footballer on an annual basis, and the Real Madrid star or Lionel Messi have taken home the gong in each of the past seven years.

Arsenal pair Alexis Sanchez and David Ospina have been included amongst a 59-man shortlist for Federation Internationale de Football Association Ballon D’Or award, leaked by Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo.

Queens Park Rangers, who were relegated from the Premier League last season, can claim a connection to two players on the list in Eduardo Vargas and Massimo Luongo.

But he did get his hands on a few silverware, winning the Asian Cup with Australia and being named the tournament’s most valuable player.

There are a few justified left-field inclusions: Harry Kane, for example, is surely worthy of his place on the list; all those Memes from last season don’t look so daft now.

David Silva and Sergio Busquets are a few huge names to miss out, in a list which also includes Leicester City attacker Shinji Okazaki and Christian Atsu.

The long list was to be officially released on 7 October, which would then be cut down to 23 and trimmed once again to a three-man shortlist before the winners’ ceremony in January.