"Maybe he has to retire for someone else to be regarded as the best" - When Haaland made Lionel Messi claim after 2023 Ballon d'Or snub

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland once rated Lionel Messi as the best to have ever played the game. Haaland was speaking at a press conference while reflecting on the 2023 Ballon d'Or, which Messi pipped him to win.

This was Messi's eighth Ballon d'Or title, the most by any player in the history of football. However, Erling Haaland won the Gerd Muller Trophy at the awards ceremony that year for being the best striker in the world. In January 2024, Messi beat Haaland to win the Best FIFA Men's Player of the Year.

When asked if it would take Messi's retirement for Haaland to win individual awards, the latter answered:

"Good question. I don't know. I've won it all [in terms of team trophies with Manchester City] but I'm only 23, so I want to win it all again. (Lionel) Messi is the best that has ever played, maybe he has to retire for someone else to be regarded as the best," Haaland had said (via Sports Illustrated).

Losing the coveted award to Lionel Messi must have been extremely disappointing for Haaland. This was even more so since the latter had scored 52 goals and provided nine assists in 53 matches for City in his debut season (2022-23). To add to that, City also won the continental treble: the Premier League, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League in the same campaign.

Erling Haaland was once compared to Lionel Messi by Pep Guardiola

In the same press conference, Haaland also mentioned that FC Copenhagen chose not to sign him after a trial in 2016. The Norwegian eventually went on to join Molde, where he developed into a fine player and was purchased by Red Bull Salzburg (2019-20) and then Borussia Dortmund (2020-22).

It is no wonder that Haaland has elicited comparisons with the great Lionel Messi from time to time. Messi scored 672 goals in 778 matches for Barcelona from 2004 to 2021. Haaland's manager Pep Guardiola made the comparison after the former's 100th appearance for Manchester City earlier this year.

"These [Haaland's] are numbers like [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo, that controlled everything in the last decade. His numbers are that level. To do that in this country is unbelievable,” Guardiola had said in August 2024 (via Premier League official website).

Since arriving at Manchester City in 2022, the talismanic striker has scored an incredible 108 goals and provided 15 assists in 120 matches.