Middlesbrough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, Spurs defender Lee Young-pyo and Fulham winger Seol Ki-hyeon were Tuesday named as contenders for the AFC Player of the Year award. The English-based trio were joined by Palermo and Australia star Mark Bresciano, Yuji Nakazawa of Japan and the Yokohama F Marinos, and Iraqi Hawar Mullah Mohamed, who plays his club football with Qatar's Al Khor. They were among a list of 21 players for the annual award which will be whittled down to three ahead of the announcement of the winner in Shanghai in November. While the English Premier League players are the star names, Bahrain and Singapore dominate in the numbers department with three players nominated each. Uzbekistan, South Korea, Australia, and Asian champions Iraq have two players each in contention. The procedure for selecting the best player in Asia has been overhauled this year “to inject more transparency in the process.” Choosing the winner will still be based on a weighted ranking system which takes into account performances at major Asian Football Confederation and FIFA tournaments. But a four-pronged rationalized approach has been adopted, taking into account points awarded by AFC Match Commissioners, a technical study group, technical analysts and fans.Man City wants Ronaldinho Manchester City executive director Taweesuk Jack Srisumrid revealed Tuesday the Premier League club has held talks over a possible move for Barcelona star Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho's brother and agent Roberto de Assis is reported to have met with Taweesuk over a deal for the 28-year-old Brazilian who had looked to be set for a summer transfer to Serie A side AC Milan. But City manager Sven Goran Eriksson has been keen to delay talk of a move until the season has concluded. __
