Virgil van Dijk came very close to winning the 2019 Ballon d'Or. 

The Liverpool defender came second in the vote behind Lionel Messi. 

Barcelona's superstar got 686 points, while Van Dijk won 679, making it the closest vote in recent memory. 

After winning the Champions League with his club and coming desperately close to securing the Premier League title, the Dutchman was favoured by some to scoop the award.

But Messi, who won La Liga with Barca, came out on top. 

After the result, some continue to claim the Ballon d'Or is biased towards attacking players, over defenders. 

That certainly appears to be the case, considering no centre-back has won the award since Fabio Cannavaro did in 2006. 

But if Van Dijk continues his incredible form, which could see Liverpool go Invincible this season, then surely the 2020 Ballon d'Or has his name on it?  

Well, not according to Ruud Gullit, who claims his fellow Dutchman will never win the award. 

"The message of the Ballon d’Or was, he’s never going to win it again," Gullit told JOE. 

The Holland legend was then asked if he thought Van Dijk should have been Messi to the award, to which he replied: 

"Yeah, I think he should. But, you know, you can’t say Messi didn’t deserve it either. But if there was a possibility to make a stand for a defender, it was this year." 

Those are pretty big claims.

After all, Van Dijk has a chance to go 'Invincible' while Liverpool are still in the Champions League and FA Cup. 

It's a big if, but IF they do win another trophy on top of the Premier League, then surely the Dutchman has a shot at winning the Ballon d'Or, even if he is a defender.  

After all, it's not like Messi has made a great start to the year, so the chances of him defending his crown look less and less likely...