Robert Lewandowski wins Striker of the Year at Ballon d’Or 2021 award ceremony after prolific year with Bayern Munich

The Polish striker won the inaugural trophy at the award ceremony in Paris

(AP)

Bayern Munich and Poland striker Robert Lewandowski has received the first Striker of the Year award at the Ballon d’Or ceremony.

The new award was announced just before the shortlist ranking started to be revealed, with Club of the Year also handed out for the first time at this year’s event.

Lewandowski’s free-scoring consistency made him a favourite to win the 2020 Ballon d’Or which was ultimately cancelled, and he was similarly among the contenders to win this year’s award before Messi claimed the prize.

The PSG forward, after accepting his award, sent a pointed message to say that Lewandowski had been the best player in 2020 and he hoped France Football would award the Polish striker with the Ballon d’Or retrospectively.

For now, though, the Bayern man adds this new addition to the individual honours calendar to his own list of achievements, having netted 64 goals across the calendar year of 2021.

Lewandowski won the German Bundesliga with Bayern earlier this year and also claimed the European Golden Shoe after finishing with 41 league goals from just 29 appearances. He netted three times at Euro 2020 as Poland failed to get past the group stage.