Ballon d’Or 2023: Haaland told to snub award if Messi wins again

Former Chelsea midfielder, Craig Burley, has told Manchester City’s Erling Haaland to snub the Ballon d’Or ceremony for life if he doesn’t win this year’s award.

Haaland has been included in the 30-man shortlist for the prize, which will be handed out in Paris on October 30.

Inter Miami superstar, Lionel Messi, who has already won the award seven times, is believed to be favourite to take it home again.

The 36-year-old capped his trophy-laden career with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar last December.

However, Burley believes Haaland should win it.

“This award, like a few awards, drives me nuts but he’s the one that deserves it but I think out there it will be full of sentimental claptrap – Messi won the World Cup, Messi’s this and Messi’s that, and they will just hand him another one.

“And if I was Erling Haaland, I would never go back to another Ballon d’Or in my life, same as Robert Lewandowski,” Burley said on ESPN.