It's the time of year again, and the list of people who will compete to be given the honor to finish third behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at the Ballon D'Or ceremony has been revealed.
As always, the list is absolutely stuffed with strikers, and as many Real Madrid players as possible have been included, without forgetting the obligatory nod to whoever won the summer's big tournament.
Here is the list in full, featuring Jamie Vardy and possibly his last "holy shit, look how far he has come" moment in his career, and Paul Pogba, who apparently was only judged on his performances for Juve until May.
Sergio Agüero - Manchester City - Striker
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Borussia Dortmund -Striker
Gareth Bale - Real Madrid - Winger
Gianluigi Buffon - Juventus - Goalkeeper
Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid - Winger
Kevin De Bruyne - Manchester City - Midfielder
Paulo Dybala - Juventus - Striker
Diego Godin - Atlético Madrid - Center-back
Antoine Griezmann - Atlético Madrid - Striker
Gonzalo Higuain - Juventus - Striker
Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Manchester United - Striker
Andrés Iniesta - Barcelona - Midfielder
Koke - Atlético Madrid - Midfielder
Toni Kroos - Real Madrid - Midfielder
Robert Lewandowski - Bayern München - Striker
Hugo Lloris - Tottenham Hotspur - Goalkeeper
Riyad Mahrez - Leicester City - Winger
Lionel Messi - Barcelona - Winger
Luka Modrić - Real Madrid - Midfielder
Thomas Müller - Bayern München - Winger
Manuel Neuer - Bayern München - Goalkeeper
Neymar - Barcelona - Winger
Dimitri Payet - West Ham United - Winger
Pepe - Real Madrid - Center-back
Paul Pogba - Manchester United - Midfielder
Rui Patrício - Sporting - Goalkeeper
Sergio Ramos - Real Madrid - Center-back
Luis Suárez - Barcelona - Striker
Jamie Vardy - Leicester City - Striker
Arturo Vidal - Bayern München - Midfielder
A few names will of course raise eyebrows, but rather than picking out those who we don't feel deserve to be there, we thought it would be better to focus on those who do, but were snubbed.
Leonardo Bonucci - Juventus - Centre-back
Baffling. An absolute rock in another title-winning season for Juventus, and in fantastic form at Euro 2016 where Italy exceeded expectations, Bonucci presumably has to score 15 goals a season to get the nod, or move to Real Madrid.
David De Gea - Manchester United - Goalkeeper
Really?... Really? Four goalkeepers made this list, and David De Gea has a strong argument to have out-performed all of them over the last year. He absolutely is in the top three goalkeepers in the World, it's hard to justify leaving him out of the list.
N'Golo Kante - Leicester City - Midfielder
It's good to see Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez honoured for what they did for Leicester, but anyone who watched them all last season and likely even the players themselves would tell you that N'Golo Kante was just as important. He even had a good Euros for France, a strange snub.
Jerome Boateng - Bayern Munich - Centre-back
Boateng has been absolutely outstanding for Bayern and Germany over the past year, but clearly was omitted for missing a chunk of last season through injury. Even still, he did more than enough to make this list ahead of some of the defenders picked.
Mesut Ozil - Arsenal - Midfielder
Ozil's stats over the past 12 months make his omission stick out like a sort thumb. Yes he can go missing on occasion but he is unquestionably one of the best at what he does and is should comfortably take his place on this list. You could also make an argument for his teammate Alexis Sanchez, so maybe it's an Arsenal thing.
Have any more you're particular baffled by? Don't be shy, let us know.
