Chelsea are the best represented club in the short-list for the Fifa World Player of the Year award.

As last year, there five Blues on a list that contains 23 names, 10 of whom currently play in the Barclays Premier League.

The Chelsea five are John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and Deco.

Voting is undertaken by the coach and captain of each country's side, with individuals not allowed to vote for players from their own nation.

It means that not only are Terry, Drogba and Ballack nominated, they also have the responsibility of placing a vote.

At the beginning of December, Fifa will announce the names of the final three, the winners revealed in Zurich on 12 January.

The best past placing of a Chelsea player was Lampard when he finished second in 2005 (pictured). Last year Drogba was fourth.

The full 23-man list in alphabetical order is:
Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal/Togo), Sergio Agüero (Atletico Madrid/Argentina), Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg//Russia), Michael Ballack (Chelsea/Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus/Italy), Iker Casillas (Real Madrid/Spain), Deco (Chelsea/Portugal), Didier Drogba (Chelsea/Côte d'Ivoire), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona/Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal/Spain), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool/England), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter/Sweden), Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona/Spain), Kaká (Milan/Brazil), Frank Lampard (Chelsea/England), Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina), Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich/France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Man United/Portugal), John Terry (Chelsea/England), Fernando Torres (Liverpool/Spain), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid/Netherlands), David Villa (Valencia/Spain) and Xavi (Barcelona/Spain).

This is the 17th year Fifa have named a World Player of the Year. The past winners (which include George Weah prior to his half-season at Chelsea) are:

2007 Kaká
2006 Fabio Cannavaro
2005 Ronaldinho
2004 Ronaldinho
2003 Zinedine Zidane
2002 Ronaldo
2001 Luis Figo
2000 Zinedine Zidane
1999 Rivaldo
1998 Zinedine Zidane
1997 Ronaldo
1996 Ronaldo
1995 George Weah
1994 Romario
1993 Roberto Baggio
1992 Marco van Basten
1991 Lothar Matthäus