On Monday, FIFA announced their 23-man shortlist for the 2012 Ballon d’Or prize and the Premier League champions have the third most players on the list, with Aguero, Balotelli and Yaya Toure included in the line-up.
Unsurprisingly, Barcelona and Real Madrid dominate with five and six players respectively, with the winner set to be revealed at a Gala Event in Zurich on January 7 2013.
Lionel Messi is red-hot favourite to make it three Ballon d’Or prizes in a row but will face stiff competition from his old adversary Cristiano Ronaldo.
Roberto Mancini has also been nominated for FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football in 2012, joining Vincente Del Bosque, Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho on the illustrious shortlist.
The lists were drawn up by football experts in the FIFA Football Committeee and by a group of experts from France Football Magazine.
The player and manager shortlists will be whittled down further to just three names on 29 November 2012 and the three nominees for the FIFA Puskás Award and the FIFA FIFPro World XI shortlist for the best forwards will also be announced (the shortlists for best goalkeepers, defenders and midfielders will be unveiled on 19, 22 and 26 November, respectively).
Ballon d’Or shortlist
Sergio Agüero (Argentina), Xabi Alonso (Spain),Mario Balotelli (Italy), Karim Benzema (France), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Sergio Busquets (Spain), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire), Radamel Falcao (Colombia), Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Özil (Germany), Gerard Piqué (Spain), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Wayne Rooney (England), Yaya Touré (Côte d’Ivoire), Robin van Persie (Netherlands), Xavi (Spain).
Coach of the Year shortlist
Vicente del Bosque (Spain/Spain national team), Roberto Di Matteo (Italy/Chelsea FC), Alex Ferguson (Scotland/Manchester United FC), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Barcelona former coach), Jupp Heynckes (Germany/FC Bayern München), Jürgen Klopp (Germany/Borussia Dortmund), Joachim Löw (Germany/Germany national team), Roberto Mancini (Italy/Manchester City FC), José Mourinho (Portugal/Real Madrid CF), Cesare Prandelli (Italy/Italy national team).
