Former Chelsea defender, Mario Melchiot, has backed Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk to win this year’s Ballon d’ Or ahead of Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi and Juventus superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Melchiot believes his fellow countryman deserves to win the world individual top-prize award ahead of Messi and Ronaldo after he recently won this year’s UEFA Men Player of the Year award.
According to him, this year could be Van Dijk’s moment to win the Ballon d’ Or, adding that the centre-back has proven himself as one of the best players in the world.
“The great thing about Van Dijk is that he has a cool head in all situations,” Melchiot told Goal. “I hope he keeps it because it makes him different. It brings ease to his team-mates; it makes him look like he is in control and feel like he is in control.
“When I was watching him in Holland at Groningen, I saw that he was relaxed. He was peaceful and not flash. His city is like that. Then he chose a great journey – he went to Scotland and showed he can handle it.
“Then, in the Premier League, he showed he could handle it with Southampton. [Then] Liverpool came in with big money. Immediately he brought the calmness [that they didn’t have before]. He has speed, strength, technique and he understands the game.
“He can take a striker out of the game and he has a coach that anyone would want to play for. The only thing is, people now see him as a special player. A small mistake will seem like a big mistake, but I don’t think he will struggle with that.
“He is also Holland’s captain. He’s a great player, he brought calmness to Liverpool even in the Champions League final. He has proven himself as one of the best, he should definitely be amongst the top picks for the Ballon d’Or. This could be his moment.”
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