Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland names best player of all time
Erling Haaland has given his pick for the greatest player of all time
The forward missed out on the Ballon d'Or last year to Lionel Messi
Striker has discussed controversially finishing second in the voting

By Jack Gallagher
12:00 AM GMT
Haaland has weighed in on the debate
Haaland has weighed in on the debate / James Gill - Danehouse/GettyImages
Erling Haaland has weighed in on the greatest footballer of all time debate, hailing Lionel Messi as "the best that has ever played".

Despite winning a famous treble with Manchester City during his maiden campaign at the club, scoring a quite ridiculous 52 goals in 53 games in all competitions, Haaland finished second in the 2023 Ballon d'Or and The Best FIFA Men's Player awards voting.


Both awards were won by Lionel Messi, who had guided Argentina to World Cup glory at the end of 2022. The Ballon d'Or voting period included the tournament in Qatar, although those casting ballots for the FIFA prize were asked to consider a time period starting the day after the final. Messi's reputation held weight and he still collected the latter award anyway, effectively winning it two years in a row for a single achievement thanks to the slightly confusing calendar.

The Ballon d'Or triumph was Messi's record-extending eighth, and to many, firmly cemented the Argentine's legacy as the greatest footballer of all time.

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The best ever / Thaddaeus McAdams/GettyImages
Speaking ahead of City's Champions League win over Copenhagen, Haaland was asked if he was disappointed at missing out on the Ballon d'Or to Messi and if he feels he has to wait until the Argentine superstar to retire before getting his hands on football's top individual prizes.

"I don't know, good question," said Haaland. "Yeah, it's true he won it and he won the World Cup so I don't know what to say. He is the best that has ever played, I think, so yeah, I don’t know."

Alongside Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe, Haaland is one of the early favourites to win the 2024 Ballon d'Or. Despite enduring a spell on the sidelines with an injury, the striker has already bagged 29 goals in 32 games so far this season. His tally since joining City in 2022 is now 81 in 85.

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Erling Haaland on target again as Man City ease into Champions League last eight

Holders Manchester City eased into the Champions League quarter-finals for a seventh successive season with a routine 3-1 win over FC Copenhagen.

Early Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez goals put City on their way and the prolific Erling Haaland netted his 29th of the season as Pep Guardiola’s side completed a 6-2 aggregate success at the Etihad Stadium.

Copenhagen showed some spirit and pulled one back through former Southampton player Mohamed Elyounoussi but there was never any doubt City would be going through to the last eight.

It was a game played largely at a slow tempo as City, bidding to win unprecedented back-to-back trebles, conserved energy for bigger challenges ahead.

Guardiola made seven changes from the side that beat Manchester United in Sunday’s derby with match-winner Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, John Stones and Bernardo Silva among those on the bench.

That suggested Guardiola already had half an eye on this weekend’s crunch Premier League trip to Liverpool and his selection was vindicated inside five minutes as Akanji volleyed them ahead.

The defender went forward for a corner and was almost nonchalant in the way he swung out his boot to meet Alvarez’s cross with a sweet strike.

Alvarez doubled the lead four minutes later after a calamitous error by goalkeeper Kamil Grabara, who had been one of the Danes’ stand-out players in the first leg.

Alvarez first picked out Rodri, who thumped a header against the bar. The ball was half-cleared and the Argentinian picked up possession again but this time curled in a shot.

Grabara should have claimed but the ball slipped through his fingers and into the net.

After completely dominating the meeting between the sides in Denmark last month without putting the matter beyond doubt, City appeared to have finished the job in quick fashion.

Yet for all their dominance and control of possession, the hosts were caught out by a rare Copenhagen break on the half-hour.

Defence was turned into attack as Elyounoussi broke down the left, found Orri Oskarsson inside the box and then took his backheel return to slot a fine goal beyond Ederson.

That at least gave Copenhagen’s vociferous following something to savour but City were hardly unsettled.

Haaland restored a two-goal advantage on the night on the stroke of half-time when he controlled a lofted Rodri pass, cut inside and then buried a low shot inside the near post.

City eased off in the second half and cruised towards the final whistle.

To their credit, Copenhagen, as manager Jacob Neestrup had promised, refused to throw in the towel and, despite seeing little of the ball, did manage to piece together some attacks.

Substitute Magnus Mattsson even tested Ederson with a sharp shot on the turn and Elyounoussi blasted over.

City almost added another in stoppage time when Rico Lewis hit the bar.


Making a case for Federico Chiesa’s Juventus exit
FotMob - March 6, 2024, 8:31 PM
Juventus’ Federico Chiesa found the back of the net in the side’s vital clash against Napoli last weekend, but his future remains uncertain. In fact, the summer transfer window would be the best time for the Italian to depart the Bianconeri.
By Kaustubh Pandey

Chiesa’s goal against Francesco Calzona’s Napoli felt like a slap in the face of doubters, as it handed Juve a lifeline in the game. While it didn’t lead to Max Allegri’s side picking up a win as a late Giacomo Raspadori goal helped Napoli get their most important three points of the campaign, Chiesa’s goal sent a message to many.

The former Fiorentina man has been doubted by many in recent weeks. It isn’t just his performances that have been questioned, as doubts have extended to his fitness as well. Some doubts are rather valid, as the 26-year-old has picked up over ten injuries since he recovered from an ACL injury towards the end of 2022.

Despite the occasional inconsistency, he has still scored seven times this season and has overperformed on his Expected Goals metric by a good margin despite his injury issues. Doing that in a defensive-first system under Allegri is vital, but sections of the club’s supporters still seem unhappy.


Chiesa’s contract runs out in the summer of 2025 and La Gazzetta dello Sport have previously reported that the Italian is inching towards an exit in the summer, with talks about a renewal not having progressed.

And while the idea of an exit does seem disappointing considering that the Bianconeri paid a package of over €50m to Fiorentina for Chiesa, there are multiple reasons why the departure from Turin will make definite sense. We explore those reasons here.

Lack of suitability to Allegri’s system
Allegri has constantly shown the tendency to use a 3-5-2 shape since last season and while he has often used a back four, the Italian has regularly fallen back to using a 3-5-2. Within that, Chiesa has played in the front two but surprisingly enough, he has also been used as a wing-back multiple times.

Chiesa has the skill set of being someone who excels at ball-carrying and chance creation, as he has completed 2.56 dribbles per 90 minutes and has created 2.14 chances per 90. But using those qualities at wing-back would make sure that he operates deeper.


Even though it might help the team because his raw skill set might suit the wing-back role, Allegri’s pragmatic system uses wing-backs deeper than a more attacking approach. In a more attacking setup, Chiesa would operate further forward and his skillset and output would be much more utilised in the final third and he will score and assist more than he has.

Juventus might have already replaced him
While Chiesa is still a fairly valuable resource because he still provides goals at a healthy rate despite his injuries, Kenan Yildiz’s emergence probably suggests that there might already be a replacement at the club.

In Chiesa’s absence, Yildiz has impressed and he represents a similar profile as well.


While he may not be as prolific as Chiesa in some aspects, it is easy to look at them and see how similar they are. Yildiz is raw and would only improve from where he is and would play more over time.

The young Turk also formed a very good partnership with Dušan Vlahović upfront and that is what many Juve fans would like in a Chiesa-Vlahović partnership. That hasn’t quite happened, but Yildiz has done that in the absence of his Italian teammate.

More than that, Juve have concretely been linked with more wingers for the summer transfer window. One is Felipe Anderson, whose contract at Lazio expires. Another is Genoa’s Albert Gudmundsson, who has scored nine times for the Rossoblu this season and he can also operate upfront in a 3-5-2 shape.

So even if Chiesa leaves, Juve may not miss him. And Chiesa is replaceable for them.

Takers in England
During his time at Fiorentina, there was never any shortage of links with clubs in England and that is still the case. Considering how Manchester United, Tottenham and even Arsenal have looked to Italy in recent seasons to seek solutions, they would definitely be aware of Chiesa’s situation at the Bianconeri. Spurs and United have, in fact, dealt with Juve fairly recently and reports have already suggested that ex-Old Lady chief Fabio Paratici still holds a certain sway at the Lilywhites despite his suspension.

Chiesa earns a little over €200k a week at Juve and that money weighs a lot in the club coffers considering the realities of the Serie A and also keeping in mind Chiesa’s injury problems. Those wages may not be a massive issue for English clubs due to their obvious financial advantages in the European game. Italian clubs are unlikely to be able to afford the 26-year-old’s transfer fee and that is another area where English clubs would have an advantage.

On top of that, Chiesa knows fluent English and his jolly off-pitch profile would appeal to fans, as the Italian comes across as a marketable asset who also comes from a renowned footballing family.

A fresh chance to prove himself?
The move to Juve was supposed to be the platform for Chiesa to prove himself and due to factors such as the club’s instability and his own injuries, things haven’t gone to plan. He is now at the ripe age of 26 and he now needs a club where he can be a leading light and it has to be somewhere he could resurrect himself.

Juve could yet change managers in the summer and move on from Max Allegri and that could prove to be another period of transition for not just Chiesa, but the club in general. But for the Genoa-born star, it could be a case of some more months being wasted away with there being limited guarantee of an outcome.

A move elsewhere would be a fresh start and with the Premier League having clubs that operate in systems that are progressively attacking, that would benefit Chiesa right away and he could easily join and start operating in a preferred role all over again. That could be exactly what he needs.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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