The Guardian : List of top 90 footballers of the year released, top 10 in mystery

12/23/2016

The Guardian has attempted to present a truer depiction of the best 100 footballers of the year away from the blinding glitz of the Ballon D'or shortlist, with inputs from 124 experts across 45 nations. The list includes a player from the Brazilian league while also featuring stars like Mesut Ozil.

We have always been mildly amused whenever we looked at the Ballon D'or shortlist for 2016 -it has been the case every year that footballers are picked based on the number of headlines they made that year rather than their performances. On the contrary, The Guardian has put together a list that would satisfy the skeptics in us who are vexed with glitz and glamour of the Ballon D'or.

The list mentions a player from the Brazilian league - Atletico Nacional's Miguel Borja in 83rd position. The list also features several of the under-appreciated players of the year such as Manchester United's David De Gea, Tottenham's centre-back Toby Alderweireld, Juventus's Miralem Pjanic to name a few.

From The Guardian:

Our panel of 124 experts from 45 nations compiled a list of the greatest male players on the planet. Now we reveal Nos 100-11.

You can check the full list here.