The perennial question over the Ballon d’Or winner never fails to spark intriguing debates. With each passing year, fresh opinions emerge, adding a unique twist to the narrative. This time, Arsenal legend Cesc Fabregas has injected a new perspective into the argument by claiming that Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk should ‘deserve‘ the coveted award ahead of the likes of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe. 

In the latest installment of BBC Radio 5 Live’s ‘Planet Premier League Podcast,’ the Dutch skipper became a topic of discussion, where soccer analyst Stateman Dave insisted that van Dijk should have won the 2019 Ballon d’Or instead of Lionel Messi, by stating that the defender was ‘the best player in European football that season.’ While Fabregas reacted by saying ‘Interesting,‘ former England star Nedum Onuoha taunted Dave that he wouldn’t be able to convince the former Barcelona midfielder with his claim. 

As BBC presenter Mark Chapman backed van Dijk’s ‘imperious‘ leadership, Fabregas agreed to the British commentator’s claim and hilariously said, “Yeah, 100%. I’m going to say something that I think no one ever thought about or ever say it publicly; Potentially, he [van Dijk] could deserve the Ballon d’Or.” This claim from the former Monaco midfielder was apparently a mock for Dave over his take on the Liverpool defender winning the award, making everyone go in stitches. Dave then replied to Cesc by saying, “I really agree with that statement.” 

Even though Fabregas intended to troll Dave, he was actually serious about Van Dijk winning the Ballon d’Or. These words will certainly stir a debate among the soccer fraternity and bring back the old controversial discussion about whether Messi deserved it over Van Dijk.

Did Virgil van Dijk deserve the 2019 Ballon d’Or more than Lionel Messi? 

“Everything happens for a reason, and, frankly, losing to Lionel Messi is not the worst of things.” While this was the humble response from Virgil van Dijk after seeing La Pulga lift his sixth award on the night of December 2, 2019, it left the majority of the world on fire. The Liverpool defender, who finished second ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, was a clear favorite to lift the Golden Ball for the season he had with the Reds. 

The Dutch international had successfully transformed Merseyside’s defense, winning the Champions League in his debut season. Even though many defend Messi’s 34 goals in 36 games and 12 UCL goals that season, van Dijk was a true contender to extend the Messi-Ronaldo Ballon d’Or drought, which Luka Modric initiated in 2018. Nevertheless, the Ballon d’Or has always been a controversial topic to debate. 

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While the race for the Golden Ball will now see the end of Messi-Ronaldo dominance, it would be interesting to see if Virgil van Dijk is the man to do it.