Ballon d`Or candidates revealed
Red Devils quartet Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand and David Beckham are on the list set to be announced by the French publication, as United provide more nominees than any of their Premiership rivals despite Arsenal's Double triumph.
The Gunners have a trio of Frenchman included - Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Sylvain Wiltord - and Liverpool, who finished runners-up to the North Londoners last term, can only boast two names, current holder Owen and his fellow striker El Hadji Diouf.
The smart money is on a Real player picking up the gong, following their Champions League success, and Brazilians Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos are clearly among the favourites after their World Cup heroics.
Legendary Brazilian Pele has already tipped Roberto Carlos for the award.
Five other Santiago Bernabeu aces are included - Zinedine Zidane, Raul, Luis Figo, Claude Makelele and Iker Casillas - and Milan have a quintet of their own in Rivaldo, Filippo Inzaghi, Paolo Maldini, Andrei Shevchenko and Alessandro Nesta.
Familiar faces such as Oliver Kahn, Michael Ballack, Giovane Elber, Francesco Totti, Cafu, Alessandro Del Piero, Hernan Crespo, Alvaro Recoba, Luis Enrique and David Trezeguet make an appearance.
There are also some newer stars of European football - namely Juan Carlos Valeron, the excellent Ruben Baraja, Miroslav Klose, Djibril Cisse and Paris Saint Germain's Brazilian starlet Ronaldinho among the half-century who can argue they are the cream of talent in the game, at the moment.
Owen won the 2001 award, with Luis Figo triumphant the previous year.
Michel Platini picked up the trophy, handed to the European Footballer of the Year, for three successive years in the 1980s, and Marco van Basten and Johan Cruyff can also boast a hat-trick of successes in the voting.
The full list of players will appear in Tuesday's edition of France Football.
