Two names have become synonymous with the Ballon d’Or – Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. When you play on the greatest teams in the known world, you are going to win every team and individual award possible. Messi won it the first three years and Ronaldo has taken it the last two. With the release of the Ballon d’Or shortlist, we see one name that should pique our interests – Alexis Sanchez.

The Chilean was a one-man show for Arsenal during the first half of last year, but he slowly tailed off. Now, he is back to his unstoppable ways, scoring seven in his last five despite being grossly overworked and exhausted and rumor has it, even injured.

So that raises the big question. Is Alexis Sanchez a serious Ballon d’Or candidate?

As it stands, no. He is not. Don’t get me wrong, seven goals in five games is really impressive. Plus, the work he does on and off the ball, even when not scoring goals, is second to none. He is truly an elite player and if Arsenal could find some consistency around him, the tireless attacker would be unstoppable. Which is what is starting to happen at Arsenal now.

But the competition is incredibly stiff. Robert Lewandowski has to be the frontrunner, as he has been scoring on literally everything (except Arsenal). Zlatan Ibrahimovic is also up there among the top candidates and if Neymar continues his superb fill-in work for Messi, he is going to sway some favor as well.

As it stands, Alexis Sanchez is not even the best player in the Premier League with a chance. That would fall on Sergio Aguero. The Argentine forward is a goal machine wherever he goes. A lot of that comes down to the system he plays in, but we cannot deny Aguero his due credit. In order for Alexis to merit any sort of consideration, he is going to have to outclass Aguero. While his position does not make it easy, scoring more goals than the City forward would be the easiest way to accomplish the feat.

At the very least, we know that Alexis Sanchez has a better shot than Eden Hazard.

Alexis Sanchez can definitely be a legitimate candidate if he can keep this flare going all year. The problem is we saw him get burned out last year and this year he got off to a rough start. If a second burnout happens, he eliminates himself. But with the team growing around him, this attack may become incredibly conducive for him to make a serious Ballon d’Or challenge. Not only that, but Alexis Sanchez already has something only one other person on the award’s shortlist has – an international trophy. Alexis led Chile to their first Copa America in 99 years and that deserves some serious brownie points.

It will take a lot of work for Alexis Sanchez to stay relevant in the chase for the Ballon d’Or. But if anyone can do it, our Chilean can.