Messi scored 51 goals in the calendar year of 2016 .
That still did n't put Messi in Southgate 's top three -- Messi voted instead for Chelsea 's former Leicester midfielder N'Golo Kante and Atletico Madrid 's Antoine Griezmann , who finished third in the overall poll .
Messi scored 51 goals in the calendar year of 2016 , but that still did n't put him in Southgate 's top three -- he voted instead for Chelsea 's former Leicester midfielder N'Golo Kante and Atletico Madrid 's Antoine Griezmann , who finished third in the overall poll .