IT'S up for grabs now….(or next year anyway).
Liverpool supporters of a certain age will always shudder on hearing or seeing that initial phrase - but at least this time it might mean the winning of a title, rather than having one snatched away.
That title being 'the best player in the world' (of soccer).
For more than a decade the debate was almost entirely about only two players - Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Croatia's magnificent midfielder Luka Modric did collect the Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball) in 2018, having helped his country to the World Cup Final after winning yet another Champions League with Real Madrid.
Yet otherwise, from 2008 onwards, it's been all about Messi and Ronaldo, with six and five wins respectively.
Their dominance has been truly remarkable.
Before them, even winning the award three times was exceptional, achieved only by a trio of the game's greats - Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini, and Marco van Basten.
Just five players managed to win it twice - Alfredo di Stefano, Franz Beckenbauer, Kevin Keegan, Karl-Heinz Rumenigge, and the Brazilian Ronaldo.
In the 18 seasons between van Basten's second award (in 1989) and Cristiano Ronaldo's first (2008) there was tremendous variety - 17 different winners, with only Brazil's Ronaldo winning twice, in 1997 and 2002, although MvB did get his third Ballon d'Or in 1992.
It must be noted that from its inception in 1956 until 1995 the award was only for European players (the Argentinian di Stefano had acquired Spanish citizenship), which obviously ruled out South American legends such as Pele, Diego Maradona, and Zico among others.
The remit was expanded to include all players at European clubs in '95, immediately leading to the first African winner, Liberia's George Weah, although Mozambique-born Eusebio did triumph as a Portugal international 30 years before that.
The original Ronaldo collected the accolade in 1997, officially the first South American winner, albeit with that aforementioned caveat about di Stefano. Two years later Rivaldo became the second Brazilian to lift the Ballon d'Or.
It then became a truly global award from 2007 on, open to players from all over the world.
Even so, from the next year onwards it has still been nearly a two-man battle, almost exclusively about that dynamic duo of Messi and Ronaldo.
It has definitely been about only two clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, and one league, Spain's La Liga.
Until now.
OK, the change this year is likely only to be a consequence of Messi's transfer to Paris Saint-Germain. He's still the favourite for the 2021 Ballon d'Or, largely based on his goalscoring for Barcelona and Argentina's triumph in the Copa America.
CR7 has also switched, back to Manchester United, and is putting together a late charge with record-breaking goals for Portugal while continuing to find the net at club level.
There's no doubt, though, that the powers of Messi and Ronaldo are waning, that the real best player is someone else.
Robert Lewandowski should have received the award last year, to become the first winner from Poland, but the organisers cancelled the Ballon d'Or due to the coronavirus crisis.
Quite rightly, the Bayern Munich goal machine did at least win the 'Best Fifa Men's Player award - but even then Cristiano Ronaldo somehow finished second and Messi third. The fact that the general public accounts for a quarter of the voting for that award is perhaps some explanation, but many media representatives and national team managers and captains who also make up the electorate are also still dazzled by those two superstars.
Blinded to the reality that both are now past their best, absolutely amazing though that has been.
Sure, both scored in the Champions League just last week, Messi's an absolute pearler of a curler against last year's finalists and reigning English champions Manchester City.
However, the latest goal scored against Pep Guardiola's side is a better indicator of the current best player in the world.
Mo Salah.
The man ludicrously labelled a 'one-season wonder' by some, simply because he hasn't quite replicated the scoring feats of his first season at Anfield (when he netted 32 league goals in 36 appearances), is back to his very best.
The goal he scored on Sunday, his ninth of this season, was absolutely astounding.
It wasn't just that he jinked his way through the expensively assembled defence of Manchester City before firing past Brazil's goalkeeper. It was that he finished with his weaker foot.
Earlier in the game he'd created the opening goal for his team-mate Sadio Mane with a perfectly placed and weighted pass.
In terms of the pressure he puts on defences, his productivity and work-rate, his consistent excellence, and the quality of his finishes, he's much more influential nowadays than Messi and Ronaldo.
Like those two, he also shows remarkable resilience, having missed just five Premier League games over his previous four full seasons at Anfield.
Liverpool's 'Egyptian King', if he maintains his standards, would be worthy of the 2022 crown, to become only the second official African winner, after George Weah, or third if you count Eusebio.
Yet there are a few other contenders.
Salah's clubmate Virgil van Dijk, having been agonisingly pipped to the accolade by Messi in 2019, 686 votes to 679, is looking good again after a serious knee injury.
Perhaps the award will come to another English club, Manchester City, where Belgian midfielder Kevin de Bruyne is a joy to watch, a multi-talented midfielder, a creator and a scorer, with wonderful passing ability.
Chelsea can put forward their own midfield all-rounder, the extraordinary N'Golo Kante, who's a leading contender for this year, along with his club-mate Jorginho, who helped Italy win the Euros. Both will surely be among this year's nominees, to be announced on Friday.
Lewandowski will be in the reckoning too, still scoring at a goal per game rate, matched by the powerful Erling Braut Haaland at Borussia Dortmund.
At least two of Messi's new team-mates at Paris Saint-Germain have the ability to become the best player in the world, but whether either Neymar or Kylian Mbappe have the requisite attitude remains to be seen.
It's not beyond the bounds of possibility that Messi or Ronaldo could win another 'Golden Ball' next year, given the glamour they still hold, especially if PSG were to win the Champions League or the Portuguese legend scores a bucket-load of goals.
Yet the 2021 Ballon d'Or will surely mark the end of an era.
