Ballon d’Or: Ex-Liverpool left-back John Arne Riise names player that should’ve won award

Former Liverpool defender John Arne Riise has said that Manchester City striker Erling Haaland should have been awarded the Ballon d’Or.

Haaland was a close contender for the award three years ago but ultimately lost to Argentina captain Lionel Messi.

The Norway international netted 52 goals during the 2022/2023 season, a campaign in which Manchester City secured the treble – the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the UEFA Champions League.

“There are so many good players coming up now. I think Erling should have won it [Ballon d’Or] a couple of years ago,” Riise told BetVictor (via GOAL).

“I think if he’s going to win it, he needs to have a system where he just scores a sh*tload of goals.”

“Because you have [Lamine] Yamal, you have [Michael] Olise, you have so many players coming up now that are doing skills that people love.”