Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Lionel Messi are three of the 40 players shortlisted for Uefa’s team of the year.
Also on the shortlist is Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez and ex-team-mate N’Golo Kante (now at Chelsea) who both featured during Leicester’s Premier League win.
The other Premier League players included are Aaron Ramsey, Toby Alderweireld, Laurent Koscielny, Paul Pogba, Kevin de Bruyne, Dimitri Payet, Joe Allen, Sergio Aguero and Alexis Sanchez.
Champions League winners Real Madrid are the most represented club with goalkeeper Keylor Navas, defenders Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal and Pepe, midfielders Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, and forwards Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo included.
Barcelona have five players on the list in Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar, Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique.
Chelsea’s duo of Eden Hazard and Diego Costa and Arsenal Mesut Ozil were among some of the notable names not shortlisted.
In total there are four goalkeepers, 12 defenders, 12 midfielders and 12 forwards.
Fans can vote for the team of the year on Uefa’s website until 3 January.
The 40-man shortlist (in alphabetical order by position):
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Keylor Navas (Real Madrid), Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid) Rui Patricio (Sporting Lisbon).
Defenders: Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham Hostspur) Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Leonardo Bonnuci (Juventus), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund), Juanfran (Atletico Madrid), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Pepe (Real Madrid), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid).
Midfielders: Joe Allen (Stoke), Kevin De Bruyne (Man City), Yannick Carrasco (Atletico Madrid), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), N’Golo Kante (Chelsea), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Grzegorz Krychowiak (PSG), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Dimitri Payet (West Ham), Paul Pogba (Man Utd), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal).
Forwards: Sergio Aguero (Man City), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Man Utd), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Neymar (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal), Luis Suarez (Barcelona).
