The Nominees For The 2021 Lev Yashin Award
As part of France Football Magazine’s newly announced award shortlist for 2021, there is a race developing for the Lev Yashin Award to the best goalkeeper in world football last season.
Ten nominees make the final shortlist, with four of them playing in the Premier League, two in Ligue 1, one in Serie A, one in the Bundesliga and two in LaLiga Santander.
Paris Saint-Germain are the only team to boast two finalists within their club, although Gianluigi Donnarumma’s inclusion is mainly due to his performances for AC Milan and the Italian national team last term.
Here is the first part of the nominees for the 2021 Yachine Trophy! #tropheeyachine
🇮🇹 Gianluigi Donnarumma
🇧🇷 Ederson
🇩🇰 Kasper Schmeichel
🇸🇳 Edouard Mendy
🇧🇪 Thibaut Courtois#ballondor pic.twitter.com/uqnWmZPiwr— France Football #BallondOr (@francefootball) October 8, 2021
Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen is a surprise exclusion from the list, although that perhaps is an indication at the loss of form he has suffered from over the past 18 months. And there is no place for Alisson Becker of Liverpool.
From the Premier League it is Kasper Schmeichel, Ederson, Edouard Mendy and Emiliano Martinez who make the list, with the latter undergoing perhaps the brightest last two years of any goalkeeper around. Having established himself as Argentina’s number one, Arsenal fans have bemoaned the club’s decision to let him go to Aston Villa, when he has done nothing but improve ever since.
Manuel Neuer is an ever-present on these lists and has been for the best part of a decade, and his form has steadily improved after overcoming a toe ailment which plagued him from 2016 to 2018, he is playing his best football once again, although he gets seldom tested due to the excellence of Bayern Munich’s defensive line.
The 2021 Lev Yashin Award Nominees
- Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan/ Paris Saint-Germain & Italy)
- Ederson (Man City & Brazil)
- Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City & Denmark)
- Edouard Mendy (Chelsea & Senegal)
- Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid & Belgium)
- Keylor Navas (PSG & Costa Rica)
- Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa & Argentina)
- Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich & Germany)
- Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid & Slovenia)
- Samir Handanovic (Inter)
