Manchester City are not good for Erling Haaland’s image, particularly when it comes to any attempts to win the Ballon d’Or.
That’s according to journalist Miguel Quintana, [relayed by Marca](https://amp.marca.com/radio/2025/10/16/haaland-perdido-cache-city-guardiola.html). He believes that Haaland’s role at Manchester City is hurting his chances of personal glory.
He was speaking about the Manchester City superstar on the latest broadcast of Pizzarra de Quintana. City fans might argue that should be Bizarra de Quintana.
Anyway, during his shown he focused on Haaland and his goal-filled start to the season. The striker is currently on 12 goals in nine games for Manchester City. He’s also on fire for Norway, recently scoring five in an 11-1 win over Moldova and three in a 5-0 win over Israel.
In fact, he’s scored at least once in every game he’s played for his country since October last year. His record in total is 51 goals in 46 games for the nation.
“Lost his cachet at Manchester City”
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They’re impressive numbers, to put it mildly. Yet the striker is not close to the personal accolades such as the Ballon d’Or. Quintana believes that has something to do with Manchester City.
_“Norway, rather than being a problem, could be an opportunity for Haaland,”_ he said.
_“Haaland has lost his cachet at Manchester City. City won the Champions League, and Haaland didn’t win the Ballon d’Or. The following year, a City player did win it, but it wasn’t him._
_“City’s style has reduced him to a specialist, more in the box than anything else. It’s the simplest and least self-sufficient version. He still scores a goal per game wherever he plays, but I think because of all this, we feel Haaland isn’t as good as we thought._
_“In the Champions League, he hasn’t made a difference in the most important matches, especially in the knockout stages against Real Madrid._
_“He’s behind Mbappé, now also Lamine Yamal, perhaps Harry Kane, and it remains to be seen if he’s even behind midfielders like Pedri. Norway can be an opportunity because a good performance with the national team can give him the cachet and prestige, he can’t fully achieve at Manchester City right now.”_