The Ballon d'Or award sees a total of 176 leading journalists from across the globe have their say on who is the best player in the world. And it seems as though Sri Lanka's representative is just using his voting privilege to have a big laugh.
Incredibly, Hafiz Marikar from Daily News picked Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold as his Ballon d'Or WINNER for 2019 - evidently feeling as though his clever corner against Barcelona warranted the coveted prize.
That's not all, though. Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Antoine Griezmann completed his top three, while Robert Lewandowski and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen were his fourth and fifth votes.
None of the final three - Lionel Messi, Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo - featured in his list.
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But this bizarre voting is anything but anomaly for Marikar as he has developed quite the trend for his left-field choices.
Last year, he went for Eden Hazard, Roberto Firmino and Paul Pogba in his top three, with Ronaldo and Harry Kane completing his top five.
However, his most hilarious work was in 2017. Two years back Marikar went for Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci (who finished 21st overall) as his Ballon d'Or winner, flanked by David De Gea, Radamel Falcao, Hazard and Kane in his top three.
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Ronaldo has made his list just once in the last three years, having ranked him in fourth in 2018, while he's clearly not a Messi fan as he's overlooked the six-time Ballon d'Or winner on every occasion.
Still, this all pales in comparison to Roy Hodgson deciding Javier Mascherano deserved the 2014 Ballon d'Or ahead of both Messi and Ronaldo despite them both scoring over 100 goals that year.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Football, Lionel Messi, Ballon d'Or, Virgil Van Dijk
