“Scandal”: A £7 million Premier League star finds the information concerning a Manchester City player to be unbelievable.
Callum Wilson and Michail Antonio have been speaking about the Ballon d’Or rumours involving Manchester City No.9 Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi.
The Newcastle No.9 and the West Ham No.9 were speaking on the Footballer’s Football podcast.
So, what was said about Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi? Let’s take a look…
What’s the story?
Well – according to SPORT in Spain – it has already been decided that the Argentina international will win the Ballon d’Or after finally lifting the World Cup.
If what the Spanish news outlet are reporting is true, it would be Messi’s eighth Ballon d’Or.
When asked if he feels the South American deserves to win the Ballon d’Or ahead of Haaland, Wilson said: “No. What Haaland did last season can’t really be overlooked.”
The £7m Antonio then added: “You can’t look past a treble winning team. You can’t look past what Haaland did last year. It was goals, goals, goals. Breaking records. He deserves that Ballon d’Or. If he doesn’t get it, it’s a scandal.”
The Jamaica international is right – it would be scandalous if Haaland loses out on the Ballon d’Or.
Why Haaland has a strong chance of beating Messi to another award
Interestingly – while Haaland may lose out to Messi on the Ballon d’Or – the Norwegian has a very strong chance of beating the Inter Miami No.10 to The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2023.
Why? Well, FIFA’s official website states that this award is based on achievements ranging from December 19th 2022 – one day after the World Cup final – to August 20th 2023.
That effectively means Messi’s main claim to the award is redundant, so it would be even more of a scandal if Haaland missed out on The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2023 in addition to the Ballon d’Or.
Hopefully, the story from SPORT was inaccurate – the Norway international thoroughly deserves the Ballon d’Or after remarkably scoring 52 goals on his way to a historic treble
