5 players who deserved to be in the Ballon d'Or 2019 shortlist 

#1 Aymeric Laporte

Manchester City's Aymeric Laporte's performances last season were on par with Virgil van Dijk.

Week in, week out, Aymeric Laporte chipped in with world-class performances for Manchester City as they romped to a second consecutive Premier League title with 98 points in thier kitty. Pep Guardiola rotated Vincent Kompany, John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi but Laporte remained a constant presence in his back line.

Defenders such as van Dijk and Laporte are more than just the tackles and blocks. Their world-class stature goes beyond those rubrics. They are inspirational presences with the capability of marshaling a back-line and getting into the right places at the right time.

Laporte knows when to track back, when to lunge and when to stretch off his lines. His focus on detail and perfection is a stand-out commodity in any modern day centre-back.

3043 - Aymeric Laporte is the only player in the Top 5 European leagues to complete more than 3000 passes since the beginning of the 2018/19 season (3043). Comeback. pic.twitter.com/eWReDuPfkl

— OptaJean (@OptaJean) August 29, 2019

Virgil van Dijk changed the face of the Liverpool defense and played a massive part in their run to the UEFA Champions League title. Well, Laporte had more tackles per game than the Dutchman - 1.2 to 1, as many interceptions on average and a much better pass completion success rate - 92.3 to 89.7.

The Frenchman lifted the Carabao Cup as well as the Premier League trophy, which was decided by one of the closest title races in recnt history. The fact that despite such a performance, he has not found a way into the shortlist beggars belief.