07 September 2023 , 08:29
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Ballon d'Or nominations rarely arrive without stirring debate, and England and Barcelona star Lucy Bronze is leading the charge against the "ridiculous" snub of club and country team-mate Keira Walsh.
Walsh, currently the most expensive player in women's football, was conspicuously absent from the 30-player shortlist for the best female footballer of 2023 released on Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, England quartet Millie Bright, Rachel Daly, Mary Earps and Georgia Stanway were among the nominees, along with Chelsea and Australia striker Sam Kerr and Spain and Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati.
Two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas was not nominated, with the striker missing a large portion of last season through injury.
Twenty-six year-old Walsh is largely considered to be one of the best midfielders in the game. The Rochdale native joined Barcelona from Manchester City last summer for a world-record transfer fee, with the Spanish giants doling out some £350,000 with add-ons
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The move transpired after Walsh lifted the Euro 2022 trophy with the Lionesses and claimed the Player of the Match award.
And Walsh's star continued to rise with Barcelona as she claimed the league, Supercopa and Champions League trophies in her first season. But there was apparently no room for Walsh in the official Ballon d'Or discourse, a decision which Bronze is "genuinely fuming" over.
Bronze posted a photo of Walsh on her Instagram story and wrote: "All the respect to every nominee, but HOW was Keira bloody Walsh not nominated for the Ballon d'Or, it's actually ridiculous.
"She's one of the best midfielders if not one of the best players in the women's game and she can't even get nominated for something that everyone knows full well she deserves at least a nomination, I'm genuinely fuming."
During the summer's World Cup, it was a potential injury to Walsh in England's 1-0 win over Denmark that sent shockwaves through the tournament.
Known for an elite passing range, vision and unrivalled reading of the game, the midfielder was England's fulcrum in both defence and attack. The spectre of losing the midfielder was enough to ostensibly sink the European champions' chances of winning the tournament.
Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall, in his role as an analyst for the BBC, said Walsh is "almost irreplaceable", adding that replacing her abilities on and off the ball would require two midfielders.
Former England striker Ellen White admitted that during the Euro 2022 campaign "everything came through Keira, there wasn't a Plan B. She was the key cog."
Walsh returned to the England starting line-up during the knockout match against Nigeria and helped the Lionesses reach an historic World Cup final, which they lost 1-0 to Spain.
Full list of Ballon d'Or nominees: Aitana Bonmati (Spain and Barcelona), Millie Bright (England and Chelsea), Linda Caicedo (Colombia and Real Madrid ), Olga Carmona (Spain and Real Madrid), Rachel Daly (England and Aston Villa), Debinha (Brazil and North Carolina Courage/Kansas City), Kadidiatou Diani (France and Lyon), Mary Earps (England and Manchester United ), Patricia Guijarro (Spain and Barcelona), Yui Hasegawa (Japan and Manchester City), Amanda Ilestedt (Sweden and Paris St-Germain/Arsenal), Sam Kerr (Australia and Chelsea), Mapi Leon (Spain and Barcelona), Katie McCabe (Republic of Ireland and Arsenal), Hinata Miyazawa (Japan and MyNavi Sendai/Manchester United), Lena Oberdorf (Germany and Wolfsburg), Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria and Barcelona), Ewa Pajor (Poland and Wolfsburg), Salma Paralluelo (Spain and Barcelona), Alexandra Popp (Germany and Wolsburg), Hayley Raso (Australia and Man City/Real Madrid), Alba Redondo (Spain and Levante), Guro Reiten (Norway and Chelsea), Wendie Renard (France and Lyon), Fridolina Rolfo (Sweden and Barcelona), Jill Roord (Netherlands and Wolfsburg/Manchester City), Khadija Shaw (Jamaica and Manchester City), Sophia Smith (United States and Portland Thorns), Georgia Stanway (England and Bayern Munich), Daphne van Domselaar (Netherlands and Twente/Aston Villa)
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