Erling Haaland does not believe he and Kylian Mbappe will have a career-long competition like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, but he is aware that ‘everyone thinks’ that will happen.
With Ronaldo and Messi nearing the end of their careers and playing in Saudi Arabia and the United States, the European baton has been passed to Haaland and Mbappe.
Last season, the Manchester City striker edged over his Parisian counterpart by winning the Treble in his first year in English football, while Mbappe’s Paris Saint-Germain faltered and his future was called into question.
Both have been nominated for the 2018 Ballon d’Or, which honors the world’s best player, although Messi is largely expected to win the trophy for the seventh time after leading Argentina to the World Cup last year.
Haaland maintained he isn’t thinking about other players, but he understands why people think he and Mbappe will be the next worldwide football rivalry.
‘That’s what everyone believes, but you have to emphasize how insane Messi and Cristiano’s actions have been,’ he told France Football.
‘You also have to keep in mind that they’re continuing doing it, even as kids become older. They’re still great players.
‘But I never talk about myself as being against other players because that’s not how I perceive things. I only try to be better every day, to keep enjoying what I do and being the greatest version of myself,’ he said.
Messi and Ronaldo have been bitter rivals throughout their careers, with their time in LaLiga at Barcelona and Real Madrid serving as the pinnacle of their rivalry.
Their ability to push one another resulted in a 10-year monopoly on the Ballon d’Or before Luka Modric broke the tie in 2018.
However, Ronaldo recently stated that their rivalry is now ended because they ‘changed the history of football’.
Haaland cemented his place as one of the top attackers in the world last season, scoring 52 goals in 53 games for Pep Guardiola’s team after previously starring in Denmark and Germany before heading to England.
Individual honors have since come his way, with him recently earning the PFA’s player of the year and UEFA’s men’s player of the year awards after a spectacular season.
Meanwhile, Mbappe has previously been nominated for a slew of awards and has placed in the top ten of Ballon d’Or nominations but has yet to make it into the final three.
The Frenchman has previously won the World Cup and scored a hattrick against Messi’s Argentina in last year’s final, but he has yet to test himself outside of French league play.
Strong ties to Real Madrid have followed him in recent years, and he was demoted to training with a different group of PSG players this summer after expressing his wish to leave the club on a free transfer next year. He’s since returned to the main team.