Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has to win the Ballon d’Or if the award is meant to be given to the best player of the past year.
The Dutch international is seen as a leading contender for the prestigious honour having been in imperious form for the Reds last term as they won the Champions League and came second in the Premier League .
However, the 28-year-old is likely to face stiff competition to lift the prize from Lionel Messi , with the Barcelona forward having helped his club win La Liga with 36 league goals in just 34 appearances.
Messi holds the joint-record of most wins with five along with Cristiano Ronaldo of an award that was conceived in 1956 to honour the player to have been deemed the best player of the past year.
And while Liverpool Klopp acknowledges Messi is a worthy nominee, he feels van Dijk should be the winner if the award stays true to its roots.
“If you give the Ballon d’Or to the best player of his generation, you give it always to Lionel Messi, that’s how it is,” Klopp told Reuters
“If you give it to the best player of last season then it was Virgil van Dijk.
“I don’t know exactly how it will work but that’s how I see it.
“If it’s for the best player, the best player at all, and of all, then it’s Lionel, (but if it is for) best player of last season, (then it’s) Virgil. We will see.”
The winner of the Ballon d’Or for 2019 is due to be announced at a ceremony in Paris on December 2, with van Dijk and Messi vying to succeed Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric as the victor.
The centre-back is one of seven Liverpool players on the shortlist for the award, along with fellow countryman Georginio Wijnaldum, Brazilian pair Alisson and Roberto Firmino, fowards Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, and full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/jurgen-klopp-says-virgil-van-20954354