Five Gunners nominated for Ballon d'Or | News

Five Arsenal players are in the running for the 2024 Ballon d'Or after being nominated for the award as both male and female players.

Widely regarded as the game's most prestigious individual award, this annual prize sees journalists from around the world cast their votes to crown the best player. It has been awarded to men since 1956, while the award for women was introduced in 2018.

For the second year in a row, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard were on the shortlist, and this time they were joined by Declan Rice and William Saliba.

Meanwhile, new signing Mariona Caldentey is a contender for the women's Ballon d'Or.

Martin, who won two consecutive Player of the Year awards, was sensational in midfield last season, playing in 48 of our 52 games in all competitions, scoring 11 goals and providing 11 assists. 10 of those goals came in the Premier League, surpassing his previous season's tally by three goals and earning him nominations for the Premier League and PFA Player of the Year awards.

Bukayo scored his highest ever goalscoring tally, leading our scoring charts with 20 goals in all competitions, and provided 14 assists for his teammates in a season in which he scored 50 goals and provided 50 assists for us, captained the team for the first time and helped England reach the final of Euro 2024.

Declan was also part of that Three Lions team, but at club level he scored seven goals and provided ten assists for teammates, including nine in the Premier League – one less than his total assists in 242 games for West Ham United. He was nominated for Premier League Player of the Season and finished runner-up in the Football Writers' Awards.

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

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

Mariona joined us this summer after spending 10 years at Barcelona, ​​winning 25 titles during that time. She was the instigator of Spain's World Cup final victory against England in August 2023 and also won the 2023/24 Nations League when she scored in the final. Last season, she secured the treble 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 28 October at the Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris.