Despite inspiring Barcelona to glory in La Liga and the Copa del Rey last season, Lionel Messi is out of the running for FIFA’s ‘The Best’ award this year.The 31-year-old, who scored 45 goals in 54 appearances for Barça last term, failed to make the three-man shortlist, which was announced on Monday.The three players in contention to win the coveted individual accolade are: Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah.Ronaldo, who won the award in 2016 and 2017, played a key role in Real Madrid’s Champions League victory last season.The 33-year-old, who joined Juve in a £105 million deal this summer, netted 44 goals in as many games for Los Blancos but is yet to get off the mark for his new employers.Modric also played a pivotal role in Madrid’s 13th European Cup triumph and helped Croatia reach the World Cup final in Russia. The 32-year-old won UEFA’s Men’s Player of the Year award last week.Salah, meanwhile, enjoyed a magnificent debut season with Liverpool - scoring 44 goals in 52 games - and deservedly won the Premier League’s Player of the Season award. However, he ended last season without a team trophy.

Journalist nails tweet about Messi and Salah

The closest he came to winning silverware was in the Champions League final, but he was forced off midway through the first half with a dislocated shoulder following a tangle with Sergio Ramos.

While it’s hard to argue with the inclusions of Modric and, to a slightly lesser extent, Ronaldo, did Salah really deserve to make the three-man shortlist ahead of Messi?

Well, Spanish football writer Andy West doesn’t believe so, and he’s summed up why with the following succinct tweet…

“Anyone who thinks Salah deserves to be on FIFA's award shortlist ahead of Messi is wrong, plain and simple,” he tweeted. “If you measure by silverware, Messi wins (2-0). If you measure by goals, Messi wins (45-44). If you measure by any other performance metric, it's not even remotely close.”

Although West’s tweet will divide opinion, it’s impossible to argue with the statistics.

Messi, if you go by the numbers, had a better season than Salah.

Are we at a point in time where Messi has been so consistently brilliant for so long that he is now, if anything, a little underrated? It almost seems as if some people are tired of his magic.

Most football fans, however, love watching Messi play football and still regard him as the finest player on the planet.

Barcelona summed it up nicely on Monday evening when they tweeted: “He is the best. Period.”

Should Lionel Messi be on FIFA’s ‘The Best’ award shortlist over Mo Salah? Have your say below.