With Lionel Messi recently claiming that he believes Sadio Mane was the best player in 2019, an African star has now echoed his sentiment, but also insisting he would "slap" Mane if the Liverpool star thought was the better player overall.
Click through the mini-gallery above to see the top five in the 2019 Ballon d'Or ranking.
Mane came fourth in the final 2019 Ballon d'Or ranking, behind third-placed Cristiano Ronaldo, teammate Virgil van Dijk and Messi.
The Argentine later insisted that Mane was the best player in 2019, calling his position in the ranking a "real shame".
Earn Airtime Data With Soccer Laduma's Social Media App - Download Now
Former Chelsea forward Demba Ba has now echoed this sentiment, but explained that Mane only had a better 2019 and is not the better player overall.
"These days, we speak so much about statistics – I believe that he (Mane) had the individual and collective stats to have won the Ballon d'Or," he told The Independent.
"I always said if you swap Mane's stats in 2019 with Messi's, Messi still would have won it, even with fewer goals.
"The fact that Mane won the Champions League, the (UEFA) Super Cup, he played an unbelievable season and finished joint top goalscorer in the Premier League, it's crazy!
"Not only that, he was decisive in all of the games. I believe he could've won it.
"I've had this talk with a lot of players. They say 'yeah, but Messi is a better player'. Of course, everyone knows that!
"Even if Sadio comes and tells me that he's better than Messi, I'd slap him in his face and tell him 'shut up boy, sit down!' But in 2019, in my perspective, he had a better season."
Read: 'Jurgen Klopp Is A Disgrace'
While Mane came fourth in the 2019 ranking, Messi lifted his sixth Golden Ball, going one clear of longstanding rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
Do you think Mane has what it takes to beat Messi, Ronaldo and company to the 2020 Ballon d'Or? Have your say in the comments section below.
