Latest Liverpool news: Van Dijk believes a defender can win the Ballon d’Or

Virgil van Dijk gave a lengthy interview to LiverpoolFC.com, where he spoke about celebrating the Champions League win with the Reds and how the team has grown since he arrived at the club.

The former Southampton defender was possibly the best centre-back in the world last season and won the PFA Player of the Year award.

Van Dijk made our defence one of the best in Europe, and the Dutch defender was asked about winning the Ballon d’Or, an award that has been lifted mostly by attackers in recent years:

“It’s an honour if people are talking about it, but what can I do? I have no influence on anything. The people that have an influence on it, they have to decide who’s going to win it.”

The Liverpool star added that he had a great season last time around and wanted an even better campaign in the coming months.

The Dutchman was reminded that the last defender to win the award was Fabio Cannavaro in 2016, and Van Dijk believed that things could change:

“Maybe now, I don’t know. I can understand the fact that normally strikers or No.10s win these kind of awards because it’s more attractive to see. But maybe the time has come to change it.”

Van Dijk in a battle to land the honour

The Dutch defender has been supreme since joining from St. Mary’s and should improve further in the coming seasons.

It will be interesting to see who wins the Ballon d’Or this time. Lionel Messi won the La Liga title with Barcelona while Cristiano Ronaldo won the Nations League and the Serie A title.