Leicester midfield star Riyad Mahrez tops early poll among fans in the race for the Ballon d’Or

LEICESTER CITY  midfield ace Riyah Mahrez is leading the way in race to win the coveted Ballon d'Or - with 700,000 votes in a fans' poll.

The Algerian star is the early leader after the 30 nominees were revealed on Monday.

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That means last season's Player of the Year is ahead of the likes of Barcelona superstar trio Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez and Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo.

French media outlet France Football, who run the Ballon d'Or, conducted the poll with more than 2,000,000 votes already cast.

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Mahrez, 25, has already gained over 700,000 votes - 39 per cent of the total.

Argie ace Messi, the current holder and four-times winner, is second with 26 per cent, while Portugal's Ronaldo - the favourite after helping his country to Euro 2016 glory - is third with 20 per cent of the vote.

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The only Englishman on the list is Foxes team-mate Jamie Vardy but he is down the pecking order when it comes to the early poll.

Premier League stars like Manchester City's Sergio Aguero, Arsenal duo Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez and Tottenham's Hugo Lloris also made the shortlist for the Ballon d'Or, which means Golden Ball.

West Ham's star of last season Dimitri Payet did not make the cut and the same goes for Manchester United's keeper David de Gea and Spurs hotshot Harry Kane.

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Ballon d'Or 30-man shortlist

Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Diego Godin (Atlético Madrid), Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid), Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli/Juventus), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG/Manchester United), Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Toni Kroos(Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Thomas Muller(Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Neymar (Barcelona), Dimitri Payet (West Ham United), Pepe (Real Madrid), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Rui Patricio (Sporting Portugal), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Luis Suarez (Barcelona), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich).