It’s not worthy, lack of credibility- Rothen identifies player who should receive the award

Former winger for Paris Saint-Germain Jerome Rothen asserted that Erling Haaland of Manchester City should have defeated Lionel Messi of Inter Miami for the 2023 Ballon d’Or.

The fact that Messi defeated Haaland to win the 2023 Ballon d’Or, according to Rothen, is disgraceful.

Remember that earlier this week, Messi was named the winner of the French Ballon d’Or for this year?

The captain of Argentina defeated Haaland and Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain to win the trophy.

Read Also: Ballon d’Or: Messi wins award; only three African players finish in the final top 30 rankings

Speaking on RMC Sport, Rothen said that Messi’s victory over Haaland makes the Ballon d’Or seem untrustworthy.

That is deplorable. Naturally, that is disgraceful. In my opinion, Haaland deserved to have it. What are the criteria that lead us to conclude that Leo Messi is superior to the others between August 2022 and June 2023? Hardly any criterion places him at the top. Despite winning the World Cup, he is not as good as Haaland, if you tell me about the record, Rothen remarked.

Haaland’s Manchester City team won everything. The guy scores over 60 goals a year and wins everything.

It was only natural for Messi and Ronaldo to be ranked first or second once they accomplished their feat. While the other scored 60 goals for the team last year, Messi only managed roughly 20 goals. And I’m supposed to believe that this Golden Ball has to be taken seriously? But all credibility has been lost.