Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk says winning the Ballon d'Or would be "a big honour" but he can still get better.
Van Dijk, 28, is one of the favourites to win the award for the world's best player after being instrumental in Liverpool's Champions League victory and Premier League title challenge.
"If I am rewarded for the season I had last year that would be unbelievable and I would be so proud," he said.
"But I feel there is still more to come. I can get more out of me."
Van Dijk has been an integral part of Jurgen Klopp's side's improvement since joining from Southampton for £75m - a world-record fee for a defender - in January 2018.
But the Netherlands captain says he is a harsh critic of his own game and will demand more from himself this season to try to win more trophies.
"Obviously, it is a big honour to be named as one of the favourites to win such a prestigious award but what can I do? I just get on with playing," he told BBC Sport.
"I am very hard on myself. I know the slightest loss of concentration, the slightest mistake will be punished. I try to limit it as much as possible.
"I have always been very critical of myself and I like the people around me to be critical too. And they are, the manager is as well, which is a good thing.
"I have improved since I joined Liverpool. Last year I am very satisfied with the fact that I played so many games on a consistent level, I am very proud of that fact. On a critical part I could have done more on attacking set-pieces, been more dangerous. It is not easy, I try to work on it.
"I feel there is still more to come. That comes from playing games. In my position it is all about experience as well. Playing games, staying fit, and that will hopefully bring success for the team."
Liverpool are fighting on seven fronts this season - including a December trip to Qatar for the Club World Cup - and such is Manchester City's form over the past two years that Van Dijk believes Liverpool may need to match their record haul of 97 points from last term to challenge for a first Premier League title again.
"You have to do a similar number again, look at City they are a fantastic team," he said.
"Every Liverpool fan dreams of the Premier League. Everyone is waiting for it. We were so close last year, unfortunately it didn't happen but the only thing we can do is go for it.
"There are so many games. Our December period is a madness, basically.
"Last season we lost only one game, we did everything we could but City were just a little bit better than us.
"We have to respect that as well. We are going to try and do even better than last year."
Chelasani
203
everyone knows 7 wonders.... but anyone knows about one season wonder....??? I haven't seen Liverpool club for 14 or 15 seasons. but suddenly they are feeling like they have defeated the world and they are the bosses. cool down one season wonders.... no one remembers one season Wonder. prove consistently year after year and think big..... messi deserves it this year. for what does he deserve ballond'or...??? no one dribbled past him that the reason pool fans have. Barcelona only wins because of a single reason messi. he is going to win it.... Liverpool fans are trying to hype. last year with salah now with van dijk
entecto71
72
If you think Messi has been the best player individually last season, there isn’t much evidence to back up that claim other than goals and assists, both of which are stats that Alisson and van Dijk cant match since they’re a goalkeeper and center-back respectively. If you say Messi has more goals and assists than anyone in Europe, that simply means he is a mile better than every forward in Europe, I can easily counter that by saying that Alisson has more golden gloves than any player in Europe, van Dijk also has the most aerial duels won in Europe, add to that a 70% success rate in both tackles and duels, which is something no other center-back in Europe has achieved last season. He has a 90% pass accuracy despite completing 3076 passes and being frequently tasked to play long balls from the back by Klopp. Now is it fair to say that Alisson has been better than Messi because he had more golden gloves last season? Is it fair to say that van Dijk is better than Messi because he had more aerial duels won last season? Obviously not. So that means it’s also not fair to say Messi has been better than Alisson and van Dijk just because he has more goals than them. So as a Liverpool fan, I obviously want van Dijk or Alisson to win. But in reality it’s impossible to compare players across different positions, so there’s no reason to argue, in the end the player with the most votes wins, we can’t objectively decide who is better between van Dijk and Messi, so might as well wait for the result, then insult each other based on it, rather than fighting before anything concrete has been announced.
SingamFootball
11
Alisson Becker is your challenger, Dijk