Van Persie, Rooney, Suarez, Van der Vaart & Silva Short Listed For Prestigious Ballon d’Or Award

Seven Premier League players have been short listed for the prestigious 2012 Ballon d’Or award, it has been revealed, after the list was leaked to the media.

Only 34 of the 50 nominees have been revealed so far, with the remaining 16 due to be leaked in the coming days. Manchester United and Manchester City both have two nominees, Rooney and Hernandez for United and Aguero and Silva for City.

Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie is shortlisted, as is former Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas who played much of 2011 with the Gunners. Liverpool’s luis Suarez and Tottenham’s Rafa Van der Vaart make up the Premiership contingent. Chelsea currently have no players in the short list, unless one of their stars is in the 16 yet to be released.

Barcelona have 9 nominees and the usual suspects, such as Messi, Xavi and Ronaldo will be the front runners for the 2012 award.