Arsene Wenger believes Sadio Mane should win the Ballon d’Or

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Liverpool stalwart Virgil van Dijk is up for the 2019 Ballon d’Or award, alongside the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

But former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes that the Reds have another player who is more suited for the illustrious honour.

The Frenchman was asked about who he thinks deserves the award, and he said Sadio Mane. “Mane was the outstanding character, I would say – because he is a fighter and efficient,he’s quoted as saying by the Mirror.

“He’s not scared of anybody. At the moment, he deserves huge credit.”

The former Arsenal boss does raise an important issue – is Mane the best player in the world? I mean, we’ve recently seen Luca Modric win the Ballon d’Or for an incredible individual season.

I think if Sadio was able to win the Africa Cup of Nations then he’d be in with a solid chance of winning the award, but they lost out to Riyad Mahrez’s Algeria.

Big Virgil is odds-on favourite for the award, either way, but the Senegalese star is certainly one of the best players in the world.

The Netherlands lost out to Portugal in the final of the Nations League, and that would point to Cristiano winning the honour, but we’re tipping van Dijk for it.

After missing out on FIFA’s The Best award to Messi, the PFA Player of the Year is surely a shoe-in after helping Liverpool to a sixth Champions League title.

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