Robert Lewandowski's stunning form this year should see him crowned The Best FIFA Men's Player for 2020, according to Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick.
The prolific Poland forward played an integral role in Bayern's treble-winning 2019-20 season, which saw them crowned champions of Europe, and is firing on all cylinders again in the new campaign.
Lewandowski faces stiff competition for the honour from the likes of holder Lionel Messi, Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and former team-mate Thiago Alcantara.
But Flick believes the Bayern talisman has the best case, with the stats certainly lending significant weight to that argument.
The award takes into account accomplishments between July 20, 2019 and October 7 of this year. During that time, Lewandowski scored 60 goals, with 39 of those coming in the Bundesliga.
"All of us in the club are hoping he will be elected as the best player this year, because he deserves it," said Flick.
"All of us can only wait and see how the vote turns out, but in this season he absolutely deserved it and we all are keeping our fingers crossed."
Lewandowski scored 15 goals and assisted five more as Bayern won all of their 2019-20 Champions League games and lifted the trophy.
His output far outstripped perennial contenders Cristiano Ronaldo (four goals, no assists) and Lionel Messi (three goals, three assists).
Bayern overcame Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final and their star duo of Neymar (three goals, four assists) and Kylian Mbappe (five goals, five assists) could not get anywhere near Lewandowski in the competition.
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah – also on the 11-man shortlist for the FIFA accolade – had four goals and two assists in last season's Champions League.
Lewandowski also had a better shot conversion rate (34.9 per cent) than any of those candidates and averaged 3.4 shots on target per 90 minutes – the most of any player to have featured more than four times.
The winner will be revealed on December 17 at The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony.
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