Atletico Madrid Star Omits Haaland From Top 3 Favourite Strikers, Names Spanish Teammate Instead

• Erling Haaland was runner-up to Lionel Messi in the 2023 Ballon d'Or
• He was awarded the Gerd Muller Trophy as the best striker last season
• However, Alvaro Morata appears not to fancy the Manchester City star

Erling Haaland is arguably the best striker in world football currently, but only some are fans of the goal machine despite his recent heroics for Manchester City.

Haaland took English football by storm when he joined the Citizens from Borussia Dortmund and helped Pep Guardiola’s side to a historic European treble.

Per Guardian, City paid £51 million for the Norwegian, a figure that many football fans believe is a 'steal' for a player of his quality and what he brings to the team.

In his first year in England, the 23-year-old scored 36 Premier League goals, breaking and setting a new record for most goals in a 38- and 42-game season.

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Morata overlooks Haaland as favourite striker

An Atletico Madrid striker has courted controversy after leaving out the former RB Salzburg striker in the list of his top three strikers in the world currently.

Alvaro Morata, answering questions posed to him by ESPN UK, named his top three, including a Real Madrid star and his Spanish national teammate.

"Joselu, he’s my teammate also in the Spanish squad, Harry Kane, and [Robert] Lewandowski," he said.

Explaining his choices, the Spaniard said:

"Kane because he always scores, he’s a goal machine, and he always wants the best. He doesn’t care if he has scored twice or thrice, he always wants more and more. I am a fan of Lewandowski. For me, with Luis Suarez and Karim Benzema, they are the fantastic three in the last 10 years… I always love to see Lewandowski play," he added.

His omission of Haaland has raised questions among fans, as did the inclusion of Joselu, who has only six goals in 19 games for Real Madrid this season.

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Messi beat Haaland by 105 points

Sports Brief previously reported on Messi winning the 2023 Ballon d'Or ahead of Haaland by a 105-point margin according to voting details released by France Football.

The World Cup winner had 462 points, while the Man City striker had 357 points. Both men received number 1 votes from their nations, Argentina and Norway, respectively.