Real Madrid forward and Belgium captain, Eden Hazard, believes one of the Liverpool's sensational trio - Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk deserves Ballon d'Or award.
The award gala will hold in December with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo tipped as favourites but Hazard says a Liverpool player deserves the prestigious gong.
Mane, Salah and van Dijk had a remarkable season under Jurgen Klopp winning the Champions League in style over Tottenham to crown the English side the European champions.
And the former Chelsea star has thrown his weight behind them for the award ahead of two leading contenders Messi and Ronaldo.
"I would give it to a Liverpool player. Mane, Salah or Van Djik deserve it," the 28-year-old said
"If Sadio had won AFCON with Senegal, there would have been no debate. It would be beautiful if he won it.
"Or Momo [Salah], who is one of my friends. It would be a good thing for both African and English football."
Meanwhile, Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp has tipped Dutch defender van Dijk for the individual prize.
While describing Messi as the best player of his generation, the German manager posited that the Liverpool's centre-back deserves the award.
Van Dijk recently beat Messi and Ronaldo to UEFA's best men player of the year award after a remarkable calendar year for Liverpool.
"If you give the Ballon d'Or to the best player of this generation then you should give it always to Lionel Messi. That's how it is," Klopp said.
"But if you give it to the best player of last season, then it was Virgil van Dijk. I don't know exactly how it will work but that is how I see it."
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