Manchester City star Erling Haaland was awarded FWA Footballer of the Year on Thursday evening, although he admitted that one of his former title rivals could have won instead of him.
Premier League:
Erling Haaland believes Martin Odegaard, an Arsenal rival and international teammate, should have been crowned Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year.
Following a remarkable season, the Manchester City star won the annual Football Writers’ Association award on Thursday evening. He has scored 52 goals in his debut season in England after joining from Borussia Dortmund, with 36 of those coming in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola’s team is on the verge of a historic treble thanks to their goal-scoring form. The Premier League title has already been won, and City has qualified for both the Champions League and the FA Cup finals.
After winning his latest Award, Haaland was asked who should receive the prize instead of himself, and he chose an internationally teammate as well as a maybe underappreciated City colleague.
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Speaking to William Hill, he said: “If I had to pick another player to have won Player of the Year, I would say my Norwegian friend, [Martin] Odegaard has had a really good season.
“There are also other teammates that could have easily won it because there’s a lot of players in the Manchester City team that have been outstanding this season. If you watch all of our games, you will see that Rodri has just been so solid throughout the whole season.
“I think sometimes he is a bit hidden because he is in midfield and he’s the one pulling everything together. I don’t want to say too many names, but maybe it could have been one of them.”
He added: “I was there [at Real Madrid], so yeah, we talked about it but it’s not anything special.”
Martin Odegaard has had a spectacular season after aiding Arsenal in their improbable title challenge. This season, the former playmaker for Real Madrid has 15 goals and eight assists in the Premier League.
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