Erling Haaland wins Gerd Muller Trophy at 2023 Ballon d'Or

PARIS: Erling Haaland has been awarded the prestigious Gerd Muller Trophy in recognition of his incredible debut season for Manchester City alongside his exploits for Norway.

The trophy is named in honour of the late, great German strike legend Gerd Muller and is awarded to the top striker of the past European season for club and country.

Introduced in 2021 as part of the Ballon d’Or ceremony which recognises and celebrates the continent’s elite footballing talent, Haaland becomes only the second player to lift the prestigious prize following in the footsteps of 2021 and 2022 recipient Robert Lewandowski.

Having joined City from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2022, Haaland went on to enjoy a stunning inaugural campaign at the Etihad with his goals proving pivotal in the Club’s historic Treble campaign.

"It’s a huge honour to receive the Gerd Muller Trophy. I couldn’t have scored the number of goals I did last season without all of my teammates and this award is another reminder of the incredible year we all enjoyed together," said Haaland on receiving the Gerd Muller Trophy

“We work hard every day to win every game and every competition we play in, but to not only lift the first Champions League in this Club’s history but also the Premier League and FA Cup is something none of us could have imagined.

“I’m proud of what we achieved as a team last season, but our focus now is on trying to do it all again this year," he added.

Arguably, no player has made a bigger instant impact on the Premier League with Haaland breaking a host of records along the way to helping City claim a third successive league title along with securing the FA Cup and Champions League.

Haaland’s total of 52 goals in a season was the most in all competitions by a player at a Premier League club and the most by any City player in our illustrious 129-year history.

The 23-year-old also set a new Premier League record by registering 36 goals, claiming six hat-tricks along the way, while he was also the top scorer in the Champions League, scoring 12 goals as City won the prized European trophy for the first time.

In addition to his record breaking exploits for City, Haaland also hit four goals for Norway in their international programme across the 2022/23 campaign.