'I'll give it to Messi': Man City teammate overlooks Erling Haaland for Ballon d'Or

Erling Haaland of Manchester City reacts after a missed chance during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Leeds United at the Etihad Stadium on May 6, 2023 in Manchester, England.
(Image credit: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)

Erling Haaland won't win the Ballon d'Or as things stand, Manchester City teammate Bernardo Silva believes.

City's number nine has enjoyed an outrageously prolific first season with the English champions, finding the net 51 times in all competitions and breaking the record for the most goals in a Premier League campaign.

It's been an undeniably outstanding season for Haaland – but Silva feels the Norwegian hitman needs to do more if he's to be officially honoured as the best player on the planet.

That's because, in the Portuguese playmaker's view, a certain World Cup-winning captain is leading the race...

Lionel Messi of Argentina holds the World Cup trophy while being held aloft by teammates after Argentina beat France to win the FIFA World Cup 2022 on December 18, 2022 in Qatar.

Messi finally got his hands on the World Cup in Qatar last year (Image credit: Simon Bruty/Anychance/Getty Images)

"If Haaland wins [the] Premier League and Champions League, you can put him in the Ballon d'Or discussion," Silva told France Football (via GOAL), "and you can also talk about Vini [Vinicius] Jr if [Real] Madrid win the Champions League. In general, [the Ballon d'Or] is between Messi and the winner of the Champions League – and so far, I will give it to Messi."

Such is the power of narrative in football, Argentina's Messi-inspired World Cup triumph might already have sealed the Ballon d'Or for the seven-time previous winner regardless of what Haaland does between now and the end of the season.

If Haaland – who has just been voted Football Writers' Association (FWA) Footballer of the Year – can help fire City to an historic treble, though, that narrative is bound to be robustly challenged.

Pep Guardiola's side lead second-placed Arsenal by one point with four games of the Premier League campaign remaining and head into the second leg of their Champions League semi-final tie against Real Madrid all square at 1-1. They also face Manchester United in the first ever Manchester derby FA Cup final.

Tom Hancock

Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for the Premier League and Opta Analyst, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open...