Kante was one of the first five names revealed for the prestigious award, which was aligned with FIFA from 2010 to 2015. It is judged solely by a panel of journalists and is run by France Football magazine. Hazard was named on the 30-man shortlist later on Monday.

Kante played a crucial part in our title triumph last season having joined from Leicester. His performances were recognised with individual awards as he was named the PFA Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year, as well as the Chelsea Players’ Player of the Year.

Hazard was outstanding throughout too, scoring a career-high 16 Premier League goals. Blues fans voted him their Chelsea Player of the Year for the third time.

Hazard has earlier been named on the shortlist in 2013, 2014 and 2015. He finished eighth in the last of those votes. It is the second consecutive year Kante has been nominated.

No one has won the Ballon d'Or award as a Chelsea player, but former Blues Andriy Shevchenko (2004), George Weah (1995) and Ruud Gullit (1987) were all winners while with AC Milan.

Frank Lampard has the best showing by a player while at Chelsea. He finished second in 2005. Drogba was fourth in the 2007 awards. The award was initiated in 1956 when Stanley Matthews was victorious.

This year’s winner will be revealed on December 6.

The full shortlist is:

Neymar, Paris Saint-Germain, Brazil

Luka Modric, Real Madrid, Croatia

Paulo Dybala, Juventus, Argentina

Marcelo, Real Madrid, Brazil

N'Golo Kante, Chelsea, France

Luis Suarez, Barcelona, Uruguay

Sergio Ramos, Real Madrid, Spain

Jan Oblak, Atletico Madrid, Slovenia

Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool, Brazil

Dries Mertens, Napoli, Belgium

Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City, Belgium

Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich, Poland

David De Gea, Manchester United, Spain

Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur, England

Edin Dzeko, Roma, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Antoine Griezmann, Atletico Madrid, France

Toni Kroos, Real Madrid, Germany

Gianluigi Buffon, Juventus, Italy

Sadio Mane, Liverpool, Senegal

Radamel Falcao, Monaco, Colombia

Lionel Messi, Barcelona, Argentina

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Borussia Dortmund, Gabon

Edinson Cavani, Paris Saint-Germain, Uruguay

Mats Hummels, Bayern Munich, Germany

Karim Benzema, Real Madrid, France

Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid, Portugal

Eden Hazard, Chelsea, Belgium

Leonardo Bonucci, AC Milan, Italy

Isco, Real Madrid, Spain

Kylian Mbappe, Paris Saint-Germain, France