Bale only British player in Footballer of the Year shortlist

Gareth Bale is the only British player to be named in the World Footballer of the Year award shortlist.

Welshman Bale, 24, went to Real Madrid for a world record £85m from Tottenham in the summer. He has not made the best of starts in Spain, having yet to play a full 90 minutes.

There are five Premier League-based players up for contention, though. They are Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Mezut Ozil (Arsenal), Luis Suarez (Liverpool), Yaya Toure (Manchester City) and Robin Van Persie (Manchester United.

Lionel Messi has won the Ballon D'Or four times in a row, and he is the favourite alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Imbrahivomic and Frank Ribery.

Messi has won the award for four years running