Aguero nominated for Ballon d'Or
- by Grant Boone
- in Sports
- — Oct 9, 2018
The first five Ballon d'Or nominees have been named and a number of Premier League players feature prominently on the list.
The Ballon d'Or, a prestigious award presented since 1956, is given to the best player of the year.
Federation Internationale de Football Association best player of the year Luka Modric remains on track for a second major award after he was named Monday among 30 nominees for the Ballon d'Or alongside the likes of ex-Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah.
The Ballon d'Or has been awarded by France Football every year since 1956, with former England global Sir Stanley Matthews the first victor.
Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Juventus from Real Madrid in the summer, won last year's Ballon d'Or.
Ronaldo played a key role in Real's Champions League triumph last season and scored a World Cup hat-trick for Portugal against Spain.
Completing the final 15 nominees for France Football's prize are Real Madrid's Marcelo and Sergio Ramos, Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak and Barcelona forward Luis Suarez.
Courtois is included after a season in which he won the FA Cup with Chelsea and came third at the World Cup with Belgium - winning the Golden Glove - before he moved to Real Madrid.
Sergio Aguero (Argentina/Manchester City), Alisson Becker (Brazil/Liverpool), Gareth Bale (Wales/Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Edinson Cavani (Uruguay/Paris Saint-Germain).
The 33-year-old won the FIFA The Best award earlier in the year, pipping Ronaldo and Salah to the trophy.