An unprecedented seven players from City have been put forward for consideration for the Ballon d’Or in 2023.
A total of thirty players have been shortlisted for the award, which is often regarded as the most prestigious individual honor in all of international football. Among those players are Julian Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Erling Haaland, Rodrigo, and Bernardo Silva.
Following yet another outstanding performance between the sticks, Ederson has been put forward for consideration for the Yashin Trophy.
Ilkay Gundogan, a former captain of City who was also nominated for this award due to the significant contributions he made to our drive to win the Treble.
The award, which is presented by the French publication France Football, will be presented, and the winner will be announced, at a ceremony that will take place at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on Monday, October 30.
JULIAN ALVAREZ
In his first full season with City, Alvarez topped the success scale, becoming 10th player to achieve the feat of World Cup winner and Treble champion in the same season.
In his 49 appearances for the Club in all competitions, Alvarez scored 17 goals and assisted five – most of which came when he featured as a substitute.
One of his other most notable achievements came when we fought to be named Champions of Europe. Alvarez became the youngest Argentinian to de directly involved in three single Champions League goals as he scored once and assisted twice in our 3-1 victory over Sevilla when we has 22 years and 275 days old.
ERLING HAALAND
Haaland enjoyed a remarkable debut campaign at City, finishing with 52 goals in 53 appearances across all competitions.
The Norwegian had broken Tommy Johnson’s record for the most goals scored by a City player across a single campaign by mid-March, while his 36 strikes in the Premier League also surpassed Andy Cole and Alan Shearer’s previously unmatched tallies of 34.
Those exploits have already seen him named PFA Player of the Year and UEFA Men’s Player of the Year for 2022/23.
KEVIN DE BRUYNE
After having the most successful season of his career in front of goal, De Bruyne finished in third place in the Ballon d’Or rankings in 2022.
After another successful season for Pep Guardiola’s squad, the Belgian has been included in the list of finalists once more for the award he received for his pivotal part in City’s achievement of the treble.
In point of fact, he would conclude the 2022–2023 season with an astounding 41 goal involvements in 49 appearances across all competitions. This would place him atop the Premier League assist rankings for the fourth time in his eight seasons with the Club.
In April, he became only the fifth player in the entire history of the competition to reach a century in this measure, and he did so in the least amount of time possible, beating the previous record by an incredible 56 matches.
BERNARDO
Bernardo Silva, meanwhile, has made the Ballon D’Or shortlist for the third time in his career, having also been nominated in 2019 and 2022.
His standout display in our Champions League semi-final second leg integral to a memorable 4-0 triumph over Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium.
The Portuguese international surpassed 300 appearances for the Club during the campaign and was rewarded for yet another outstanding campaign with a contract extension in August 2023.
RUBEN DIAS
Dias’ remarkable consistency across 2022/23 helped to cement his reputation as one of the finest central defenders in world football.
The Portuguese international featured 43 times for City in all competitions, playing every minute of our Champions League knockout campaign.
A leader on and off the pitch, only Rodrigo made more passes in Europe’s elite competition and the Premier League than Dias.
RODRIGO
Rodrigo makes the Ballon D’Or shortlist for the first time after making more appearances than any other player across 2022/23.
The midfielder was named Champions League Player of the Season after another hugely impressive campaign, grabbing the winner in our final victory over Inter in June.
He made more passes than any other player in Europe’s elite competition and across the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.
JOSKO GVARDIOL
One of City’s newest signings has been recognised for his contributions at club and international level.
He spent the 2022/23 season continuing to fine-tune his style at RB Leipzig who he helped achieve a third-place finish as he made 30 Bundesliga appearances.
On the international stage, Gvardiol played an important role as Croatia won bronze at the 2022 World Cup.
EDERSON
Meanwhile, Ederson has once again been shortlisted for the Yashin Trophy.
The Brazilian conceded just 39 goals in 48 appearances in all competitions, keeping 19 clean sheets in the process.
Arguably the most important of those shutouts came in the Champions League final, when he made a string of vital saves late on to preserve our one-goal advantage over Inter.
Named after legendary stopper Lev Yashin, the award is handed to the best goalkeeper of the year, with Ederson in contention for the prize for the fourth successive season since its inception.
Everyone at Manchester City would like to congratulate our players on their nominations.
The full Ballon d’Or shortlist is:
- Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig and Manchester City)
- Andre Onana (Inter Milan and Manchester United)
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid and Al-Ittihad)
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
- Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
- Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
- Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt and Paris Saint-Germain)
- Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid)
- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
- Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli)
- Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
- Ruben Dias (Manchester City)
- Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan)
- Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
- Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
- Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City and Barcelona)
- Yassine Bounou (Sevilla and Al-Hilal)
- Julian Alvarez (Manchester City)
- Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid)
- Rodrigo (Manchester City)
- Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami)
- Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)
- Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)
- Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)
- Kim Min-jae (Napoli and Bayern Munich)
- Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
- Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-German)
- Victor Osimhen (Napoli)
- Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich)
The full Yashin Trophy shortlist is:
- Brice Samba (Lens)
- Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb and Fenerbahce)
- Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
- Andre Onana (Inter Milan and Manchester United)
- Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
- Ederson (Manchester City)
- Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (Barcelona)
- Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
- Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
- Yassine Bounou (Sevilla and Al-Hilal)