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Former PSG star Jerome Rothen has claimed that Lionel Messi did not deserve the Ballon d'Or. He believes Erling Haaland was miles clear in the specified time frame and that the prestigious award has now lost credibility.
Speaking on RMC Sport, Rothen stated that it was shameful to give Messi the Ballon d'Or this year. He added that the Argentine only had the FIFA World Cup win over Haaland and said:
"That's shameful. Of course, that is shameful. For me, it was Haaland who should have had it. From August 2022 to June 2023, what are the criteria that lead us to say that Leo Messi is above the others? There is almost no criterion where he comes number 1. If you tell me about the record, he's inferior to Haaland even though he won the World Cup."
Rothen pointed that Haaland had almost three times more goals than Messi in the last year and won a treble with Manchester City. He said:
"Haaland won everything with Manchester City. The guy wins everything and puts more than 60 goals in the year. When Messi and Ronaldo did it, it was quite normal that they were number one or two. Messi is about 20 goals in the club last year when the other scored 60. And I am told that this Golden Ball must be given credibility? But there is no longer any credibility."
Erling Haaland came second to Lionel Messi in the Ballon d'Or race, while Kylian Mbappe finished third.
Jerome Rothen hit out at Lionel Messi after PSG exit
Jerome Rothen has not been a fan of Lionel Messi since the Argentine joined PSG. The former player took shots at the Inter Miami star earlier this year after he decided to leave the Ligue 1 champions.
He was on RMC Sport when he said:
"He very often wanted to change the pace of training. He did not want to train in the morning. He told the staff on several occasions that training in the morning is not good. That you have to train in the afternoon. Fortunately the staff did not give up. This shows that he wanted to change certain things and that he did not want to adapt."
Rothen insisted that Lionel Messi and Neymar were the main causes of PSG's failure in the UEFA Champions League. He also took shots at Marquinhos and Marco Verratti last season for their poor performances.
