The singer performed on the record and ensured it got to No.1 that year, but in doing so killed his own ambition of securing four No.1s for the year and ensured that his own certifiable banger – Last Christmas – would not reach the top. The song was still loved and sold well, but the lack of extra recognition in the charts still bugged a tiny part of the music superstar.
Erling Haaland may soon get that feeling. The Manchester City striker broke a slew of records as one of the best teams in the history of football achieved one of the rarest accomplishments, yet one of the game&aposs best players winning the ultimate club prize may not be enough to surpass the game&aposs greatest player finally winning the ultimate prize with his county.
Does Lionel Messi deserve to win the Ballon D&aposOr when his form over the last year is compared to Haaland&aposs? Arguably not, but all the same the narrative is difficult to fight and Messi is back wowing fans again after a forgettable time at Paris Saint-Germain.
Haaland can be forgiven for wondering what he has to do to win the Ballon D&aposOr if it eludes him after the season he has had, although he has already broken new ground for City in being such a strong contender for the prize. This comes after instant recognition from the Premier League and the PFA for his debut campaign in English football.
It isn&apost just the Norwegian either to be recognised; he is one of seven Treble winners on the 30-person shortlist – more than any other club – while Ederson has been nominated for the goalkeeping prize. To add to Haaland&aposs individual prize at the PFA awards, City had five players in the team of the year – again, more than anyone else.
This completes a turnaround for the club that has belatedly seen their individuals praised as much as the collective (and the manager) for what they have achieved. Bernardo Silva – also on the Ballon D&aposOr shortlist – voiced his frustration at this situation in 2020, and repeated it as late as the beginning of last season.
“I&aposm not complaining here, but I feel like other clubs get a lot more credit than City for doing less,” he told ESPN. “For example, when I was at Benfica a huge club in Portugal with more fans, more everything you do something nice, and they make it look like it&aposs great. Here at City, you do something great and they make it look like it&aposs just good.
“Playing in the Premier League and winning four titles in five years and checking the Premier League team of the year every year and knowing that we&aposre never the team that has the most players. We don&apost have the best manager, we don&apost have the best players, but we still win four Premier Leagues in five years? It just doesn&apost make sense. It probably shows that City players don&apost get as much credit as they should.”
