Lionel Messi won FIFA’s “The Best” award for the third time on Monday as the Argentine pipped Manchester City’s Erling Haaland to the prize for best men’s player in 2023.
Haaland was favourite to win after scoring 52 times in his debut season with Manchester City, but Messi edged the vote after winning Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain and the Leagues Cup just months after joining Inter Miami.
Details later…
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland isn’t likely to make the pitch again until February.
Haaland remains sidelined with a foot injury.
“It’s the bone. It needs time,” Guardiola said. “With every injury you can do whatever you want but it’s a question of time.
“It’s fine but the doctors decided to stop for one week and maybe restart in Abu Dhabi.
“Hopefully at the end of this month he’ll be ready. It was a little bit more than we expected in the beginning.”
Guardiola added: “We need him.
“Hopefully he can come back and play the last four or five months without a problem.”
Manchester City’s Norwegian goal poacher, Erling Braut Haaland is injured and risk missing top of the table clash against Liverpool next weekend.
City’s current number 9 has left the Norway camp to report to City medical team for further assessment on his injury.
Recall that Haaland got injured during Norway’s 2-0 home win over the Faroe Islands on Thursday.
He is set to miss their game with Scotland on Sunday night, which is six days before the Reds visit the Etihad.
And Norway team doctor Ola Sand has revealed the 23-year-old is in “considerable pain”.
Sande also claimed Haaland’s foot movement was currently restricted, making it impossible for him to line-up against Steve Clarke’s team.
The agent of Manchester City striker Erling Haaland was seen at the Santiago Bernabeu last night.
Rafaela Pimenta, the agent of Erling Haaland among others, was spotted at Real Madrid’s Champions League win against Braga.
During the day, Cadena SER reported Real Madrid had given up on signing PSG star Kylian Mbappe and instead the Norwegian is now the top target.
The centre-forward, however, is linked to Manchester City until 2027.
And where Mbappe is off contract in June, City are likely to demand a world record fee should Real make an attempt for Haaland.
Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola, has tipped Lionel Messi to win this year’s Ballon d’Or prize ahead of city player, Erling Haaland.
Guardiola admits that although Erling Haaland scored many goals as City clinched a treble last season, Messi led Argentina to winning the 2022 World Cup.
He told a press conference on Friday: “I always said that the Ballon d’Or had to be two sections. One for Messi and one for the others.
“Haaland should win yes or yes. We won the treble, he scored a million goals. I’d love Erling to win. But Messi… Leo won the World Cup!”
Messi is widely expected to be named winner of the award for a record-extending eighth time on October 30.
It will take the 36-year-old clear of eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won it five times.
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland says there’s two specific areas in his game he feels he needs to improve.
Haaland insists he’s not the finished article, despite last season’s success.
He told L’Equipe: “A little bit of everything, but perhaps the most important are the header and the right foot. I can always improve with the left, but that’s okay, right? I would also like to improve my dribbling.
“It’s not easy because we play every three days, but with Pep (Guardiola) we work on the small details that allow us to progress each week. The relationship with Pep is very good, but it is fair to say that sometimes he is brutal.
“I would like to have Messi’s dribbling ability. It’s a good choice, right?”
Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has given details of his argument with Erling Haaland during their 3-0 win at Burnley on Friday.
The Premier League champions began the new campaign in style at Turf Moor, with Haaland scoring a first-half brace.
But as the two teams headed for the dressing room, Guardiola could be seen in a heated exchange with the Norway striker.
After the game, Guardiola revealed what transpired.
He said: “He wanted the ball in behind to him, and that ball hasn’t to be in behind. Sometimes you have to be patient to find the right moment.
“He was not frustrated, I am not frustrated. In football it happens. Don’t be dramatic.”
Former Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has stated Erling Haaland is the best striker he has ever seen.
Hughes was a formidable frontman in his own right when he played for Manchester United.
He also played alongside the likes of Eric Cantona, Andy Cole, Gianluca Vialli, Gianfranco Zola, and Gary Lineker at various clubs.
Hughes told The Sun: “I can’t say I’ve ever seen a phenomenon quite like Haaland. And he will surely only get better because he’s clearly driven.
“He’s not going to get motivated by money because he’s already a very wealthy young man.
“He just wants to make his mark on the game. For him, it’s not about how many cars he’s got in the garage or whatever.
Former Manchester United defender John O’Shea insists there are ways to stop Manchester City striker Erling Haaland.
The Irishman insists Premier League defences haven’t done enough this season against the Norwegian.
He told the Sunday World: “Haaland is unusual in as much as he is a tall, powerful striker and he also has real pace. It’s a combination that is tough to stop.
“You often have a big strong striker or a small quick one, but in every attribute, he is matching you or getting one over on you.
“Normally when you can cope with someone physically, you might be a bit quicker than him, but not with Haaland.
“All I would say about Haaland is a lot of teams have not really tried to come up with a plan to stop him.
“I’m not saying it will work, but I looked at the Real Madrid approach in the first leg of their match against City and they managed to keep him relatively quiet.
“They dropped off, cut down the space he needs to run in behind them and were as aggressive as they possibly and legally could be against him.
“That’s the only way to stop him. He is so strong and quick that you have to cut off what he wants and that’s space in behind a defence.
“It gives you the best chance of dealing with him and while he will come out on top at times because he is so good, you have to try and be inventive against a player like that.”
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard admits he tried signing Manchester City striker Erling Haaland during his first spell with the club.
Haaland has 36 goals from 33 games in his first season with City.
Ahead of this weekend’s clash, Lampard said: “It’s a fantastic stat from him. I know the Chelsea side is a different story,” Lampard said. “But I have a huge respect for him as a player. He’s a player I tried to bring to Chelsea the first time I was here.
“I was really keen to get him here, obviously that couldn’t happen. His level at that point was very clear as well. We played against him in a pre-season game and he was fantastic.
“Credit to him. I love seeing players at that level, with that personality and hunger to play and be the best. In terms of having to deal with him, you have to have a plan and an idea, but players at that level can make anything happen at any moment.
“I’m sure the players have a good awareness of him. We have to try and be at our best to try and negate the things he does.”
On comparisons with Didier Drogba, Lampard continued: “I couldn’t compare him to Didier because they’re two different individuals at two different moments with their clubs.
“Haaland has just started out and his impact has been more instant and that’s a big credit to how he’s managed to do that, coming straight to the Premier League. Some people doubted that a little bit and he’s proven that for starters.
“Didier, over a really sustained period, did huge things for this club. There’s not a direct comparison but they’re two great strikers.”
Lampard also said: “I think he’s special and I thought he’d adapt straight away. I didn’t consider it that closely but I thought with the level of player, his record of scoring – firstly in Austria, for his country and then in the Bundesliga which is not an easy league. To come into a really good unit [Man City] already, that’s something that is a recipe to really help him and the rest is a credit to himself and the team around him. I did expect that [for Haaland to hit the ground running], it’s not just an easy hindsight answer. I have a real respect for the player.”
“I don’t know whether he would have decided to come here anyway. There are some of those that happen, aren’t there? Some that people don’t know about. I was pushing big for him and a few other players at the time, but he was the outstanding one.”
Asked how close Chelsea came to signing Haaland, Lampard added: “He’ll only know the answer to that.
“What stage did it get to? From our point, I was pushing it, I’m not sure what the appetite was everywhere else in the club to do it,” he added. “The competition was big to take him because he was an outstanding player. I think there was a buyout clause at the time which was relatively reasonable, maybe, considering the player. So all those things. I don’t have enough details to say how close it was.”