According to former Manchester City and Barcelona midfielder, Liverpool forward Sadio Mane deserved to win this year’s Ballon d’Or ahead of Lionel Messi.
Barcelona and Argentina’s talisman Lionel Messi scooped a record sixth Ballon d’Or earlier this December, edging out Mane’s Liverpool teammate Virgil van Dijk.
However, Toure believes that Mane, who scored 26 goals in all competitions last term as Liverpool finished second in the Premier League and won the Champions League – should have claimed the prestigious individual prize.
While speaking to reporters in Doha as a guest for the FIFA Club World Cup, Toure explained the reason as to why the 27-year-old Senegalese attacker deserved to win the Ballon d’Or even after he won the Golden Ball, “To be honest he deserved to win the Ballon d’Or. In Africa we don’t see any better players than him, Did you see the votes, did you see what he did in the last year, how many goals he scored, what he achieved with Liverpool?
Toure then went on the explain that a Ballon d’Or winner should come from a team that wins the Champions League title, “For me, it is a shame when a team wins this trophy (the Champions League) and the winner of the Ballon d’Or is not coming from there.”
The Reds currently hold a 10-point advantage over Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City at the summit of the Premier League table and are 14 points clear of third-place Manchester City.
Liverpool is also in line to lift the FIFA World Club Cup as they face Brazilian side Flamengo in the final of the competition on Saturday having overcome Mexican outfit Monterrey 2-1 on Wednesday.
