Man City's Erling Haaland makes frank Ballon d'Or belief admission after nomination

Erling Haaland has been nominated for the 2023 Ballon d'Or after a remarkable first season with Manchester City.

The 23-year-old made the switch to City last summer after the Etihad Stadium club paid the striker's £51.2 million release clause at Borussia Dortmund.

To say his first season with the Cityzens went well would be a bit of an understatement - Haaland scored an incredible 52 goals in 53 games in all competitions for Pep Guardiola's side.

And it wasn't just on an individual level that it went well for Haaland, as City won an historic Treble with the Premier League, FA Cup and the Champions League.

In bad news for Premier League defences, Haaland has picked up where he left off last season in the early stages of this campaign, with six goals in as many games for City so far.

Haaland is among several nominees from both the Premier League and City to be named on the shortlist for the 2023 Ballon d'Or.

Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, Julian Alvarez, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol are Haaland's City teammates who are all on the shortlist for the prize, which was won last year by Karim Benzema, who left Real Madrid this summer to move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad.

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After his incredible campaign last season, Haaland probably stands as good a chance as any of those named on the shortlist to claim the Ballon D'Or when the winner is announced at the end of October.

And the man himself believes that is indeed the case - with the scary thing for opposition sides being that he believes he still has room to improve.

Speaking to France Football, Haaland said: “I know I can still improve a great deal, I’m still young. But yes, I believe I have a chance this year.

"I’d like people to remember me as a special player, in the way I play. This is what I’m trying to do every week: show special stuff."