Ballon d'Or 2018: 6 players who should have been nominated

#4 Edin Dzeko

Dzeko is one of the most complete strikers in the world

Edin Dzeko is arguably the most complete centre-forward in world football. Highly technical, strong in the air and possessing a clinical finish, what the Bosnian lacks in pace he more than makes up for with his extraordinary ability to hold up play and intelligent passing.

Another player who prefers to do his talking more on the pitch than off it, the 31-year-old doesn't get the due accolades his performances deserve.

He has scored over 300 career goals for club and country across spells with Manchester City, Wolfsburg and Roma, but rarely is his name brought up in the discussions for best strikers in the world, taking the backseat as more 'glamorous' players playing for prestigious clubs are mentioned.

In what was his best season individually till date, Edin Dzeko scored 39 goals in 51 matches across all competitions for Roma in 2016/2017 and followed it up with another impressive campaign last term.

He scored 24 goals last season, with 16 of those coming in the league to help Roma to a 3rd place finish.

However, he saved his best for the continent, as he was the star of the show, contributing 8 goals including an emphatic performance on the quarterfinal against Barcelona, where he helped the Giallarossi shockingly overturn a 4-1 deficit to help Roma qualify for the UCL semifinals for the first time ever (in its current format), where they ultimately fell to Liverpool despite their best efforts.

The Bosnian record goalscorer was one of the most consistent strikers in Europe last season, and his goal ratio was pretty impressive, particularly in the Champions League. So it, therefore, comes as a major shock that he was excluded from the Ballon d'Or nominees, especially seeing as Benzema who had a poor campaign was nominated.