Spanish league claims a monopoly on world talent

The shortlist for Fifa's World Player of the year award has been announced, and it appears to reinforce the idea that football's powerbase may be shifting away from the English Premier League.

All five of the talents in the running for the award play for either Real Madrid and Barcelona - illustrating how those two teams are taking a stranglehold on the global game, and in turn are making Spain's La Liga the biggest in the world.

Last year the award went to an English based player - Cristiano Ronaldo, then of Manchester United. He has been nominated once again, but he no longer wears the red of Manchester having moved to Real Madrid for a world record £80m in the summer.

Real Madrid's other big summer signing, Kaka, is also in the frame. He won the award in 2007 while at AC Milan - but, like Ronaldo, has now been tempted to Spain.

The other three nominees are the Barcelona players Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Xavi. They are all veterans of La Liga and provide the heartbeat of the Barca side that claimed the treble of the Champions League, league title and Copa del Rey last season.

Of the five, Messi (pictured above, left, with Iniesta) is the favourite to take the prize. He has come second in the running for the last two years, but last week the little Argentine beat Ronaldo to the European Footballer of the Year award, with more than twice the number of points - 473 to 233.

Premier League stars Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and John Terry all failed to make the shortlist despite being included in an original pool of 23 players that was announced in October. ·