The two Manchester City players Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland as well as the Argentinian Lionel Messi are the three finalists for the UEFA Player of the Season 2022-2023 award, the European body announced on Thursday.
The three players were appointed following a vote taken by the coaches of the clubs competing last season in the group stages of the three European cups (Champions League, Europa League, Europa League Conference), by the coaches of the 55 UEFA affiliated countries as well as a panel of European journalists. Each voter had to choose three players from a list of 10. The winner will be revealed on August 31 in Monaco on the sidelines of the Champions League group stage draw.
The Norwegian Haaland and the Belgian De Bruyne shone this year in C1 by allowing Manchester City to lift the Champions League for the first time in its history. As for Messi, who left this summer from PSG to Inter Miami, he won the world title with Argentina, the only major trophy missing from his huge list.
Among the coaches, it is the Spaniard Pep Guardiola, who manages Manchester City, the Italian Simone Inzaghi, finalist of the Champions League with Inter Milan, and his compatriot Luciano Spalletti, champion of Italy with Naples and quarter of C1 finalist, who have been named.