James Milner says a Ballon d'Or omission for Virgil van Dijk will only spur the Liverpool defender on to win the award in 12 months' time.
The Reds centre-back is a frontrunner for the most prestigious individual honour in football and will go head-to-head with Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi in Paris on Monday night.
Six other Liverpool players are on the shortlist after an incredible calendar year for Jurgen Klopp's side, who, in August, added the UEFA Super Cup to their Champions League triumph after finishing runners-up in the Premier League with a 97-point haul last term.
Ballon d'Or 2019 LIVE ceremony time, winner 'leaks' and stream as Van Dijk and Messi compete
The Reds' fortunes have continued this term too with the Premier League leaders currently eight points clear of second-place Leicester and 11 ahead of champions Manchester City.
Gini Wijnaldum, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Alisson Becker and Sadio Mane are the other half-dozen on the Ballon d'Or list, but it is Van Dijk who is favourite at Anfield.
A 'leak' that was circulating around social media over the weekend, however, had Van Dijk as runner-up to Barca's five-time recipient Messi, but Milner says his £75million team-mate will only set out to win it next year if he does miss out in the French capital on Monday evening.
Milner admitted it is more difficult for defenders to be nominated for the game's biggest prizes and says the recognition of Van Dijk is proof of how good the centre-back has been for the Reds over the last year under Klopp.
And the midfielder believes Van Dijk has done enough to be crowned the world's best footballer after a stellar 12 months for club and country.
"I think Virgil has been incredible for us as a player," Milner told the ECHO.
"Off the field, he is a real leader and he has been top. There is stiff competition of course, but if I had a vote, he would have been mine.
"We all know how stiff the competition is, we know how good Messi is and he has had another great year, so it is going to be tough.
"But I think Virgil has done enough to win it for sure. When you are banging in goals it is a lot easier to get noticed and you can have a terrible game but as long as you score a goal people take notice.
"But as a defender, for him to be talked about as a winner, shows how good he has been. If he wins it, fantastic, but if not, it doesn't change anything in our eyes, it is a great thing for him and hopefully one that he wins.
"If not, hopefully it spurs him on to win it next year and carry on playing as he has been."
The Liverpool star was speaking after appearing at a charity lunch as over £60,000 was raised for the James Milner Foundation.
Milner's organisation mainly aims to help four charities in Help for Heroes, Bloodwise, NSPCC and motor neurone group MNDA and around £60k was spent at a sports auction during a glitzy affair at the Hilton hotel in Liverpool city centre.
