- Scored 35 goals in just 30 appearances and is currently 19th in the list of all-time Champions League scorers
Manchester City forward Erling Haaland has been named UEFA Men’s Player of the Year for the 2022–23 season.
The Belgian edged teammate Kevin De Bruyne and Inter Miami star, Lionel Messi to the award.
The Norwegian joined the Citizens at the start of last season from Borussia Dortmund.
The 22-year-old was instrumental to Manchester City’s success in the Champions League as they defeated Inter Milan 1-0 to win the trophy for the first time in their history.
Haaland scored 11 goals in 12 games for Manchester City last season, winning the highest goal scorer award.
In the competition, he has scored 35 goals in just 30 appearances and is currently 19th in the list of all-time Champions League scorers.
Meanwhile, UEFA President, Aleksander Ceferin, has dismissed reports that clubs from Saudi Arabia would be allowed to play in the Champions League in the future.
“Only European clubs can participate in the Champions League, the Europa League or the Conference league,” the president of the European football ruling body told the L’Equipe newspaper.
This is coming ahead of the Champions League group stage draw on Thursday.
In spite the strong financial growth of the Saudi league, which attracted the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Sadio Mane recently, Ceferin doesn’t see the country as a threat to European football.
“We had a similar situation with China, which bought players at the end of their careers and offered them a lot of money.
“The result was that Chinese football didn’t develop after that,” Ceferin recalled.
“As far as I know, (Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian) Mbappe and (Manchester City striker Erling) Haaland are not dreaming about Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Ceferin said that the approach used by Saudi Arabia “is not the right way”.
He said Saudi league “should work on the education of players and coaches, but that’s not my problem.”
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