Virgil van Dijk said that seeing four Liverpool players finish in the top 10 in the ranking for this year’s Ballon d’Or can be an extra source of motivation for the Anfield club in their quest for more on-field success this season.
“Obviously the season we had was outstanding. We had even more players than that on the total shortlist so everyone can be proud of the achievement,” said Van Dijk after coming second behind Lionel Messi at the awards ceremony.
Sadio Mane finished fourth, Mohamed Salah was fifth, and goalkeeper Alisson Becker came seventh in the voting by journalists from around the world for the prize organised by France Football magazine.
Roberto Firmino, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Georginio Wijanldum had also been nominated after starring as Jurgen Klopp’s side won the Champions League last season.
“I think we could have even have had a couple more players in it, but we had a fantastic season last year and it should help motivate us to keep doing what we are doing, working even harder and try to achieve even more than we did last year,” added Van Dijk.