Agency – ESPN’s football analyst and former player Craig Burley has claimed that Manchester City’s Erling Haaland is the real deserving winner of the Ballon d’Or. Speaking at an ESPN programme, Burley said the Ballon d’Or should be given to Haaland rather than Argentina star Lionel Messi.
Burley said that Messi won the World Cup with Argentina but did not perform well for Paris Saint Germain (PSG). He insisted that it would be unfair to give Messi the Ballon d’Or based on his performance in the World Cup tournament that lasted for just four weeks.
“If Erling Haaland doesn’t win this, close the shop. Lionel Messi won the World Cup and it’s a great achievement, but it’s a four-week period. His general league form was not the best. PSG were terrible,” Burley said.
Burley also gone to mention the fact that Haaland has scored more than 50 goals and won the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League. Noting that many journalists are likely to vote in support of Messi for the Ballon d’Or, he called such journalists puppets.
He said, “Erling Haaland? Over 50 goals, a Premier League title, the FA Cup, and the Champions League. Erling Haaland should win this award. I know that a lot of people out there can’t get off the Messi bandwagon but look at the bigger picture. There’s going to be a lot of muppet journos voting for Messi. “
France Football has announced the nominations with 30 players for the Ballon d’Or award. In addition to Messi and Haaland, there are various star players including Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema, Mohamed Salah. But the competition for the Ballon d’Or will be mainly between World Cup winner Messi and treble winner Haaland.
