Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil both failed to make the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon D’Or and it’s got me a little concerned.

The Chilean has now won the Copa America twice in a row, taking home the Player of the Tournament award. He also fought tooth and nail to maintain his unrivalled work rate at Arsenal last season, featuring in 41 matches in all competitions, despite being out for just over a month with a hamstring injury.

Ozil has previously been nominated for the Ballon D’Or four times. Mainly when he was at Real Madrid. He won German Player of the Year in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015, and is a World Cup winner.

While at Arsenal, the 28-year-old has been nothing short of mind-boggling. 44 assists (26 goals) since he moved to north London in 2013. 19 of which came just last season and this is despite the injuries he’s sustained.

Alexis and Ozil have been doing everything right. Now, Ozil’s even added scoring goals to his repertoire, finding the net six times already this season.

Therefore, if they’re doing everything they can and not getting noticed individually, could this sway their decision of whether they want to stay at the club or not?

Contract negotiations with the pair, whose current deals run out in 18 months, are ongoing with Arsene Wenger being very open about talks with the German. Not so much on Alexis.

Why would Ozil and Alexis leave?

The reason I ask this is because of this post on Reddit, where one user said that it could be a good thing that they didn’t make the shortlist because they will work harder but I don’t see it like that.

As others pointed out, they’re already working hard, if anything it’ll just prove to them that they’ll never get the recognition they deserve at Arsenal. That they should move to a ‘bigger club’ to achieve their dreams. Ozil is now 28, Alexis 27. How much longer do they have left?

Both have played for ‘bigger clubs’. Real Madrid and Barcelona. But they’re arguably different players now. Alexis certainly is. If they move on, could they be even better in their eyes?

As much as some players aren’t bothered by individual accolades, are Ozil and Alexis the type who are?

Although I wouldn’t exactly put money on it, I feel that Ozil is going to stay. He loves London, his teammates and Wenger.

Alexis I’m not nearly as sure about.