In what was inevitably a hugely competitive Ballon d’Or in a World Cup year, some exceptional talents were always going to miss out on votes.

Arsenal won the most demanding title in the world, the Premier League, and fought their way to the Champions League final. They boasted eight players who reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, and three Spaniards who won it, yet Arsenal’s highest-ranked player in the Ballon d’Or was only 15th - Declan Rice. Frustration at that lack of recognition may provide further fuel driving them through this season.

As one of the Ballon d’Or judges, I was determined to cast a vote for Rice, even if it meant only one point in placing him 10th. The excellence of Rice’s season deserved acknowledgement. He should have been named Footballer of the Year by the writers, and he certainly got my vote, but our industry plumped for Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes, who’s grabbing headlines for different reasons now.

I backed Rice because he’s a winner. The three criteria that the Ballon d’Or organisers, France Football, tell us to adhere to are essentially individual performance, collective performance (i.e. trophies) and role model qualities. (It’s why Harry Kane won overall).

Rice delivered on all counts, and he continues this season, registering five assists already from midfield, targeting further glory with Arsenal defending their title, and playing the game the right way. Rice doesn’t dive. He’d get in any midfield, barring possibly Paris Saint-Germain’s.

The best compliment that can be paid to Arsenal’s box-to-box destroyer and assist-maker is that he looks increasingly the natural midfield heir to Patrick Vieira, captain of the club’s greatest team, the Invincibles of 2003/04. In Sunday’s demanding game at Anfield with the stakes high, and the pressure even higher, Rice again rose to the occasion. He put in a pacey, well-timed overlap and cross for Kai Havertz’s goal, and then provided constant, mobile resistance when Liverpool threatened.

He’s a no.6, increasingly a no.8, who has responded to Mikel Arteta’s pre-season encouragement to attack more. He combines elite technique and temperament. He showed his quick feet to whisk the ball around Florian Wirtz, used his right foot to create Havertz’s goal, and then his left foot to ping a pass down the line to Havertz. He twice closed down Bradley Barcola. He toyed with Ronald Araujo before crossing to Noni Madueke.

He is now, unquestionably, Arsenal’s most important player, especially with Bukayo Saka struggling for sustained fitness. He’s surely the eventual successor to Martin Odegaard as captain. The club are currently looking to tie Rice, 27, down to the most significant contract of his career, taking him through his peak years.

He’s so important that Arteta dare not take him off. Rice completed 90 minutes in the win against Liverpool, in the draw against Bayern Munich when he scored at the Allianz, in the victory at Napoli, the home win over Leeds United and away win at Nottingham Forest. He played all but five minutes of the triumph at Aston Villa.

That also stirs concern around the vexed issue of over-playing. Rice endured neural pain in his hamstring in the second half of last season. The England international did have a three-week rest when withdrawing from consideration for the last international break. Thomas Tuchel will doubtless want his most powerful midfielder returning for the forthcoming Nations League games against Croatia at Wembley and away to Spain at the Metropolitano in Madrid.

Only a mathematical meltdown – an 8-0 loss to Croatia - would deny England qualification to the Nations League quarter-finals. England will want to overhaul Spain, and finish top of Group A3, ensuring they play a runner-up in March (the semi-finals and final are June 9-13), so Tuchel is likely to go strong. There will inevitably be some club managers hoping their players are rested.

That is a conversation for Tuchel and Arteta to have. Rice always wants to represent England, adding to his 80 caps. He’s currently joint 22nd in the all-time appearance list with Gary Lineker, and would climb into the top 20, past Rio Ferdinand and alongside Raheem Sterling, if he features against Croatia and Spain.

He has so much to offer club and country.