Ashley Cole hopes the day will come when a defender wins the Ballon d Or again but admits it is hard to envisage in the era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi this year won a record sixth Ballon d Or – edging him ahead of the five awards Ronaldo holds – when he saw off competition from Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk.
Dutchman Van Dijk has been inspirational for the Reds since he joined from Southampton midway through 2017-18, and he played a key role in their Champions League success last season.
Former England left-back Cole would have liked to see a fellow defender win the coveted trophy awarded to the world s top player for the first time since Fabio Cannavaro in 2006.
However, he believes Barcelona s Messi and Juventus forward Ronaldo remain clearly the best players in world football.
It s tough, Cole told Omnisport. You want different positions maybe being credited with how good they ve played in that season, but to be honest I don t think you can look outside of Messi and Ronaldo.
What Messi does week in, week out is not normal. Again, the same with Ronaldo. It wasn t a surprise that Messi won it but one day, yeah, we probably would like a defender to win it.
Ballon d’Or
— Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk)
One left-back who has impressed Cole in the Premier League this season is Ben Chilwell, who has been in fine form for high-flying Leicester City.
I think, for me, him and [Liverpool s Andy] Robertson are the best two left-backs in the Premier League at the minute, Cole said, speaking on behalf of Nissan.
Chilwell looks set to become the regular starter for England heading into Euro 2020.
He s playing in a good Leicester team, suiting his game at the minute where he can attack and he s got protection behind him, Cole said.
Whether he starts for England? That s probably a question for Gareth [Southgate]. I d like to see him start because I think when he has played for England he s played very well.
He looks accomplished there. I d like to see him start but that s down to the manager.
Nissan are proud partners of the UEFA Champions League. UEFA ambassador Ashley Cole was at the Chelsea FC v LOSC Lille match on Tuesday 10th December, along with the UEFA Champions League Trophy, which is being driven around the UK by the next generation Nissan Juke.
