Year in review: Most searched for football people in 2016

Paul Pogba’s will-he-or-won’t-he transfer saga between Juventus and Manchester United dominated the tabloids for much of the summer, and his world record £89m transfer to Old Trafford made headlines around the world. But it hasn’t been plain sailing since the French midfielder left Italy’s Serie A, with some patchy form at Euro 2016 and questions about his value during his early days with the Red Devils. But that only added to his appeal. That, and his haircuts on Instagram.

The former England and Everton, Leicester, Spurs and Barcelona star is the popular host of BBC’s Match of the Day but made more headlines when his promise to host the show in his underwear if Leicester won the title backfired. (Or did it?) He also made headlines when he was targeted by the tabloids over his support for migrants and refugees.

It’s been a massive year for British football’s best export. Not only does he play for LaLiga giants Real Madrid, he won his second UEFA Champions League title as Los Blancos beat cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid in the final, starred in Euro 2016 as Wales reached the semi finals, signed a multi-million pound contract which briefly made him the richest footballer in the world and then suffered an ankle injury that will keep him out until the new year. He also proposed to his long-term girlfriend Emma Rhys-Jones.

We may never see a story like it again. ‘Jamie Vardy is having a party’ was the cry heard up and down the country it seemed. The boy who’d gone from playing non-League football to the top of the Premier League, winning the title with Leicester City and featuring for his country at Euro 2016 seemed to develop a cult-like following wherever he went. He’s even having a movie made about him and the Foxes’ scarcely believable achievement.

The former Wales international striker was in the headlines in 2016: first his conviction for rape – for which he’d served half of his five-year prison sentence – was quashed by the Court of Appeal in April. Then he was then found not guilty at retrial in October 2016 and cleared. He is now re-building his career with Chesterfield in League One.

After leading Sunderland to another great escape from relegation, 'Big Sam’ finally got the job he’d craved for years – being England manager. However, just 67 days and one win over Slovakia later he had been sacked by the FA after he was caught offering questionable dealings and offering to take 'bungs’ in an undercover sting by a newspaper.

One of the world’s two greatest players, Messi is a household name in the world of football. The Argentine won another LaLiga-Copa del Rey double with Barcelona in 2016 but lost the 2016 Copa America final to Chile, which lead to his sensational decision to retire from international football. However, he later reversed that decision and after scoring more goals for fun this season for Barca, expect him to be in the running for yet another Ballon d'Or award.

The favourite for the 2016 Ballon d'Or award saw Ronaldo finally win the accolade missing from his trophy cabinet – an international title – when Portugal beat hosts France to win Euro 2016. This year also saw the Portuguese win his third Champions League title, sign a new long-term contract to make him the richest footballer in the world… as well as make headlines for his salacious private life and prolific use of social media.

The ex-England and Sunderland winger made headlines for the all the wrong reasons in 2016 when he was jailed for sexual offences against an underage girl.

'The Special One’ came roaring back into the spotlight in 2016 – so much so he’s the most-searched for football person this year. Despite being sacked by Chelsea in December 2015 after a disastrous title defence, he was never far from the headlines. First there were countless rumours he was being lined up to replace Louis van Gaal as Manchester United, which were duly confirmed in the summer. He’s been in the news ever since, from his dealings with the media, his prickly persona, his far from smooth start at Old Trafford and his capture of big-name players such as Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.