Five Gunners nominated for Ballon d’Or | News

Five Arsenal players are in the running to win the 2024 Ballon d’Or after being nominated for both the men’s and women’s awards.

The annual award, widely regarded as the game’s most prestigious individual accolade, sees journalists from around the world vote to crown the best player. It has been awarded to men since 1956, while the women’s award has existed since 2018.

For the second year in a row, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard have been shortlisted, and this time they have been joined by Declan Rice and William Saliba.

Meanwhile, recent arrival Mariona Caldentey is a contender for the women’s Ballon d’Or.

Back-to-back Player of the Year winner Martin was sensational in midfield last season, playing 48 of our 52 games in all competitions, scoring 11 times and providing a further 11 assists. 10 of those came in the Premier League, improving on his tally from the previous season by three, and saw him nominated for both the Premier League and PFA Player of the Year awards.

Bukayo recorded his best ever goalscoring tally, topping our goalscoring charts with 20 in all competitions. He also provided 14 assists for his team-mates in a campaign that also saw him reach 50 goals and 50 assists for us, captain the team for the first time and help England reach the Euro 2024 final.

Declan was also part of the Three Lions squad, but at club level he scored a career-best seven times and provided 10 assists for his team-mates, nine of which came in the Premier League, one short of his total assists in 242 games for West Ham United. He was nominated for the Premier League Player of the Season and was a finalist in the Football Journalists’ Awards.

William was an ever-present in the Premier League last season, playing 4,502 minutes out of a possible 4,680, the highest total by an outfield player for our side since Per Mertesacker in 2013/14. He kept 18 clean sheets, more than any other player in the division, and helped France reach the semi-finals of Euro 2024, earning him a place in UEFA’s Team of the Tournament.

All four players were recently named in the PFA Team of the Season.

Mariona joined us this summer after 10 years at Barcelona, ​​during which time she won 25 titles. She started in Spain’s World Cup final against England in August 2023, and also won the 2023/24 Nations League, scoring in the final. Last season she completed a hat-trick with the Catalan club, including the Women’s Champions League, scoring 19 goals in 45 appearances in all competitions.

The winners will be announced on Monday, October 28 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.