Six Ballon d'Or titles, 10 La Liga's, four Champions League trophies, Olympic gold medallist and now a Copa America champion - sound like anyone you know?

Unsurprisingly, Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi is once again odds-on favourite to clinch this year's Ballon d'Or title after he inspired his beloved Argentina to Copa glory.

That continental conquest wiped out, once and for all, what had been an ugly stain Messi's illustrious career.

It was his first piece of international silverware and, having contributed heavily to the winning of it, he has been catapulted to the front of the race for the biggest individual prize in the game.

However, there are some out there who suspect it might not all be smooth sailing for Messi, especially after Italy beat England to claim the Euro 2020 title.

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(Enter Giveaway)

That is because within those Italian ranks stands a player who has, arguably, had just as much of an influence on his teams as Messi has.

Midfield metronome Jorginho was an integral cog in the Chelsea machine that would go on to win the Champions League earlier this year, and he played a similar role at the heart of the Italian engine room.

Now, former Chelsea and Italy legend Gianfranco Zola has come out in defence of Jorginho's case, claiming the 29-year-old would be than deserving of the title.

"Now we are talking about a fantastic player like Messi who did extraordinary things for the first time with his national team – and this won't go unnoticed,' Zola said in an interview with the Daily Mail.

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"Should they give it to Jorginho? It would be deserved.

"He gives concrete balance and pace to his teams. I was lucky to have him at Chelsea and I know what he does on the pitch.

"It would be deserved because not only were his performances at a high level, but the teams he played for have been outstanding. This must be taken into account."

(Credit: The Football Terrace)

Zola makes a good point.

Jorginho has been at the heart of two incredible teams and has been involved in some incredibly crucial moments.

He scored the winning penalty against Spain in the European Championship semi-final, and his incredible range of passing has consistently been on show all year round.

However, the man is up against Messi - a battle that very few ever come out on the winning side of, regardless of how good a year they might have had.

If Jorginho does win the title then yes, it was deserved, but it would still a pretty big surprise.