Portuguese skipper Cristiano Ronaldo has been adjudged the UEFA Player of the Year award thrice, making him the most successful player in the anal of the award.
The 33-year-old striker has been shortlisted alongside Luca Modric and Mohammed Salah and should he named once again he will extend his record to four times recipient of the enviable silverware.
At the beginning, the award's voting format was a return to the old Ballon d'Or, which was decided purely by journalists.
In the first round of voting, 54 sports journalists representing each of the UEFA national associations provided a list of their three best-ranked players from one to three, with the first player receiving five points, the second three points and the third one point. The three players with the most points overall were shortlisted.
The jury comprised renowned sports journalists representing each of UEFA's national associations, from RTV Albania to the Daily Post in Wales via members of European Sports Media, with whom UEFA collaborated on this award.
The final vote, also by the journalists, then takes place live via electronic voting during the presentation ceremony.
In 2018, however, UEFA added 80 coaches, from the clubs that participated in the group stages of that year's UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, to its jury. The amount of journalists selected by the European Sports Media association was also increased to 55, representing each of UEFA's member associations.
Below is a list of all the past winners of the UEFA Player of the Year
2010–11 Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona
2011–12 Spain Andrés Iniesta Spain Barcelona
2012–13 France Franck Ribéry Germany Bayern Munich
2013–14 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid
2014–15 Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona
2015–16 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid
UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award
2016–17 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid