Among the 40 players nominated (four goalkeepers, 12 defenders, 12 midfielders and 12 forwards), there are 13 names that are appearing for the first time, alongside the more habitual names such as Leo Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, the latter being nominated for the 10th time and with the chance to break the record for making the starting 11 for the seventh year in a row. There are only four Spanish players among the nominees (Sergio Ramos, Isco, Gerard Piqué and David de Gea), with previous nominees Victor Valdés, Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta all notable absences.
New entrants include Thibaut Courtois, Filipe Luis and Diego Costa from Atlético Madrid, one of the clubs that have never had a player feature in the Team of the Year in the 12 years since it was created.
According to UEFA, París Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, Benfica and Mónaco could also have players included in the team for the first time.
The 40 players are from 20 different nationalities, representing 14 clubs across six different leagues.
Bayern Munich, winners of last season's Champions League, have nine players nominated, including Philipp Lahm, nominated nine times before, plus Dante, Alaba and Mario Mandukic, who have all been selected for the first time.
The nominees have been chosen by the staff working on uefa.com, based on their performances in European club competitions or internationals during the year.
Votes can be cast on uefa.com until 9 January.
The player that wins the most votes will receive 100.000 euros from UEFA, which will be donated to the International Red Cross Committee.
Here are the nominees:
Goalkeepers: Peter Cech (Chelsea), Thibaut Courtois (Atlético Madrid), David de Gea (Manchester United), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich).
Defenders: David Alaba (Bayern), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Dante (Bayern Munich), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea), Philipp Lahm (Bayern), Filipe Luis (Atlético Madrid), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) and Thiago Silva (PSG).
Midfielders: Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Ilkay Gundogan (Borussia Dortmund), Isco (Real Madrid), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Mesut Özil (Arsenal), Nemanja Matic (Benfica), Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund.), Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich) and Yaya Touré (Manchester City).
Forwards: Sergio Agüero (Manchester City), Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain), Diego Costa (Atlético Madrid), Radamel Falcao (Mónaco), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain), Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund), Mario Mandzukic (Bayern Munich), Jackson Martínez (Porto), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) and Robin van Persie (Manchester United).
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