Former Chelsea and AC Milan star, Ruud Gullit believes that Manchester City’s prolific striker, Erling Haaland could win the prestigious 2023 Ballon d’Or.
Since Erling Haaland left Borussia Dortmund for Manchester City last summer, the 22-year-old Norwegian striker has been unstoppable in all competitions.
The Norway international has already broken the Premier League’s highest number of goals scored in a single league season (34) record, he is 8 goals away from breaking the goals scored by a Premier League player in a single season in all competitions (50 goals) record.
Aside from these individual records, Haaland has helped Manchester City to return to the top of the Premier League table, reach the FA Cup final, and also reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
Unlike his closest rival for the 2023 Ballon d’Or, Lionel Messi who led his country, Argentina to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Haaland is not blessed to have a national team (Norway) as good as Argentina. Hence, he would depend on his achievements with Manchester City to contend for a global award like the Ballon d’Or.
In an interview with the Mirror, Ruud Gullit argued that Haaland can only win the Ballon d’Or ahead of Messi if he could lead Manchester City to win the Champions League this season.
City has never won the Champions League in their history despite their dominance in the Premier League in the last seven years. That is believed to be the reason the reigning Premier League champions bought the Norwegian striker.
They are currently in the semi-finals where they are expected to knock out the reigning champions of the competition, Real Madrid. If they succeed in doing that, they will face either AC Milan or Inter Milan in the final on June 10.
“It’s very interesting – if Haaland wins the Champions League this year with Manchester City – then he could win the Ballon d’Or. He will be a very strong contender for it, for sure”, the Dutch football icon said.
“As a footballer, he’s out of the ordinary. You can’t compare him to anyone. There’s always one freak of nature that comes out. We had that with Lionel Messi. He was out of the ordinary, too. But Haaland…how he scores is fantastic. He’s exceptional in front of goal, one of a kind.”
The voting for the 2023 Ballon d’Or will commence after the Champions League final and the award ceremony is expected to take place in Paris in October 2023.
