Chris
Manchester City’s historic year could get even better after the club saw seven players nominated for the 2023 Ballon d’Or award
And the fact Haaland is a frontrunner for this year’s Ballon d’Or is something his teammates have long been aware of. Speaking ahead of City’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid in May, Bernardo predicted Haaland would be ‘in the discussion’ should his side go on and win the tournament.
Speaking to France Football, Silva said, “If Haaland wins Premier League and Champions League, you can put him in the Ballon d’Or discussion, and you can also talk about VinÍ Jr. if Madrid win the Champions League. In general, it is between Messi and the winner of the Champions League.”
City beat Real Madrid 4-0 just days after Bernardo’s comments before lifting the trophy in Istanbul. As the Portugal international says, after Haaland’s exploits he could well be in with a chance of claiming the Ballon d’Or this year, and the Norwegian has even hinted that he would like to take home the prestigious award someday.
“I think everybody cares,” Haaland told GQ. “But I don’t think it’s a good thing to think about this. If you and your team are playing really well, you will perform well, you will begin to win trophies, [and] you will probably be on the list.
Like De Bruyne was – he was third place, I think well deserved, by the way. But yeah, you cannot think of these kinds of things.”
It’s that kind of focus that has led to Bernardo’s prediction coming true.
City snapped up Croatian pair Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol from Chelsea and RB Leipzig respectively with the latest addition being Jeremy Doku. Wolves’ Matheus Nunes then joined the Blues on deadline day. In terms of outgoings, Treble winner Ilkay Gundogan departed for Barcelona, Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez moved to Saudi Arabia, and Cole Palmer completed a shock move to Chelsea.
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