Official: AC Milan Defender Named in The 30 Man Ballon D’Or Shortlist

France Football announced their 30-man shortlist for the 2021 Ballon d’Or award yesterday. AC Milan and Denmark centre back Simon Kjaer made the list thanks some amazing performances for club and country over the past year as well as an incredible demonstration of leadership at the Euro 2020 competition. He captained his national team all the way to the semi finals of the competition despite losing a key player, Christian Eriksen in the first match when he collapsed on the field and the team lost the game. During that opening game, Kjaer was quick to react to support Eriksen when he went down preventing him from swallowing his tongue, this was likely one of the factors that saved his life. The defender has also been a rock in defence for Milan as the club qualified for the Champions League for the first time in seven years. He partnered with Fikayo Tomori to keep a five game run of clean sheets right at the end of last season winning crucial points against the likes of Juventus, Torino and Atalanta in the final five games.

Kjaer commented on Twitter saying:

“2021 has been a fantastic football year. I am thankful for the Ballon D’or nomination”.