Izuchukwu Okosi
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes Lionel Messi and not Erling Haaland or Kylian Mbappe deserves to be awarded the prestigious Ballon D’Or award after leading Argentina to World Cup glory in 2022.
Argentina began their quest to win the World Cup in Qatar on a slow pace including the infamous 2-1 defeat against Saudi Arabia in the group stage.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelArteta was former assistant manager to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City where another contender for the prize, Haaland, came second.
The Spaniard’s ringing endorsement of the Inter Miami forward seems to have stoked fire on English territories.
“When you talk about Messi it can never be wrong,” Arteta said in his pre match post conference ahead Wednesday’s Carabao Cup to against West Ham United.
“The way he won the World Cup at his age. It was the pinnacle of his career. No-one was expecting it.
“It’s just incredible, the consistency he has had through his career, the level that he has put world football into.”
Arteta was also glad to see his own players make the top 30 list for the men’s award, with Bukayo Saka 24th and Martin Odegaard 28th.
He added: “It is always good to look at yourself next to those names and in those lists. It is a compliment for them and what they have done.
“Now the challenge is to be up higher in the list next season because that will mean you have done it again.”
Former Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was ranked the 15th best player of the list of 30 nominees for the award.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
