29 April 2023 , 21:30
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Bernardo Silva is backing goal machine Erling Haaland to win this year’s Ballon d’Or if Manchester City can clinch a Premier League and Champions League double.
Silva, 28, knows what it takes to be recognised as the best player in the world after spending the last eight years as Cristiano Ronaldo ’s team-mate for Portugal.
He believes Haaland shares the same insatiable hunger for goals as the man who has picked up five Ballon d’Or awards during a glittering career for Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
Haaland has scored 49 goals in his first season at the Etihad as Pep Guardiola’s men have put themselves on course for a Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup treble.
And Silva said: “I hope Erling wins the Ballon d’Or because he’s not just a good player, but a very good guy.
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“And I hope that he wins this year - because that means we win the Premier League and the Champions League.
“I am cheering for him.
“Erling and Cristiano are different personalities. They are very different guys.
“But on the pitch, I think you can find a few similarities.
“When he’s in the box, Erling has that hunger to score goals - and Cristiano has it as well.
Bernardo Silva is hoping Erling Haaland can win the Ballon d'Or (AFP via Getty Images)“When the ball is close to the goal, he’s always there and he’s got that ability to sniff out where the ball will drop.
“Cristiano is also like that - and that’s the similarity.
“Apart from that, they are different players and different people.
“But that hunger of wanting to score and score and score, to help the team, they are very similar.”
Haaland has scored 33 times in the Premier League - a record over a 38-game season - and is just one short of the landmark set over 42 games by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole.
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Silva has played with Ronaldo for Portugal (AFP via Getty Images)Ronaldo was the last Premier League player to lift the Ballon d’Or after helping United clinch become English and European champions in 2008.
Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema is the current holder of the award after a poll which saw City’s Kevin De Bruyne finish third behind the Frenchman and Sadio Mane.
City can go top of the table by beating Fulham at Craven Cottage after Haaland scored one goal and set-up two for De Bruyne in the 4-1 demolition of leaders Arsenal at the Etihad on Wednesday night.
They face Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
And they will meet rivals United in the FA Cup Final - when the Reds could get an opportunity to defend the historic treble they won in 1999.
Haaland, 22, joined the Blues from Borussia Dortmund in a £51 million deal last summer.
He is now just one shy of a half-century of goals after just 42 appearances under Guardiola.
Haaland has scored six hat-tricks - and found the net five times in the Champions League romp over RB Leipzig.