Lionel Messi deserved Ballon d’Or, not Virgil Van Dijk, confesses Ashley Cole
Former Chelsea star Ashley Cole has claimed that Lionel Messi deserved to win the Ballon d’Or despite the season that Virgil Van Dijk had. The Liverpool star made an immense impact in both Liverpool’s Champions League win and them finishing just a point behind Premier League winners Manchester City.
While Lionel Messi eventually scooped up his sixth Ballon d’Or, Virgil Van Dijk finished within inches of the Argentine and that left a few Liverpool fans frustrated. It meant that despite Van Dijk’s performances in both the Champions League and the Premier League, the Dutch defender would have to do with just the PFA player of the year award and the FIFA’s the Best.
But in an interview, former Chelsea and Arsenal star Ashley Cole went on to admit that Messi and not Van Dijk deserved the trophy despite how well the former Southampton star played for Liverpool. The three-time Premier League winner also added that while he wanted different positions to be credited, the numbers and performances that Messi and Ronaldo produce are simply incredible.
"It's tough. You want different positions maybe being credited with how good they've played in that season, but to be honest I don't think you can look outside of Messi and Ronaldo. What Messi does week in, week out is not normal. Again, the same with Ronaldo. It wasn't a surprise that Messi won it but one day, yeah, we probably would like a defender to win it," Cole told Omnisport.