Bayern Munich legend, Lothar Matthaus has named Manchester City’s Erling Haaland as the player that deserved to win the 2023 Ballon d’Or over Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi.
Matthaus claimed Haaland performed better than Messi last year.
Recall that Messi beat Haaland and Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe to win the 2023 Ballon d’Or on Monday in France.
Speaking about this year’s prestigious award, Matthaus told Sky Germany,
“Over the whole of last year, Haaland performed better than Lionel Messi.
“It is undeserved that Messi won. But that shows that a World Cup counts more than anything else.
“For me, Haaland is the best player of the last twelve months won major titles with Manchester City [Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup in England] and broke goalscoring records in the process.
“For me, there is no way around Haaland. The choice is a farce, even though I am a Messi fan,” he said.