UEFA Team of the Year 2014: Alexis Sanchez, Thibaut Courtois and Yaya Toure among Premier League stars nominated

Just SEVEN Premier League stars are among the 40 nominated for the 2014 UEFA Team of the Year.

Manchester City trio Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure and Pablo Zabaleta have been shortlisted along with Arsenal frontman Alexis Sanchez, Manchester United star Angel Di Maria and Chelsea duo Diego Costa and Thibaut Courtois.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gareth Bale are obvious inclusions while sixteen European stars have been nominated for the first time.  

Man City star Yaya Toure is one of just seven Premier League stars nominated for the UEFA Team of the Year

Defensive duo Pablo Zabaleta and Vincent Kompany make up a trio of Man City players nominated

Arsenal frontman Alexis Sanchez, who joined from Barcelona in the summer, has also been shortlisted

Manchester United wideman Angel Di Maria is the only Manchester United star on the UEFA shortlist

Chelsea duo Diego Costa and Thibaut Courtois, who played for Atletico Madrid last term, were also included

No of nominees for each club 

Bayern Munich - 9

Real Madrid - 8

Atletico Madrid - 4

Barcelona - 3

Juventus - 3

Manchester City - 3

Borussia Dortmund - 2

Chelsea - 2

Arsenal - 1

Manchester United - 1

Red Bull Salzburg -1

Sevilla - 1

Zenit - 1

Through a poll conducted on UEFA's website, fans can cast their vote for the players who have impressed them most in 2014.

The four goalkeepers, 12 defenders, 12 midfielders and 12 strikers to choose from have been selected by UEFA.com's team of writers based on performances throughout the calendar year.

Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich boast nearly a quarter of the nominations with nine players selected, Champions League holders Real Madrid have eight names while just three Barcelona players are included - Luis Suarez, so impressive for Liverpool last term, missed out.

Four Atletico Madrid players have been selected while Juventus trio Paul Pogba, Gianluigi Buffon and Carlos Tevez have also been put forward. 

Voting will close on January 6 - more than 1 million votes were cast in the first six hours - and the team will be announced shortly after at the start of the new year.

Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich boast nearly a quarter of the nominations - nine players were selected

Real Madrid talisman Cristiano Ronaldo has been named in the last seven UEFA teams of the Year

Lionel Messi, pictured with Barcelona after becoming La Liga's all-time scorer on Saturday, was nominated