Pep Guardiola responds to Jamie Carragher comments on what Erling Haaland needs to change to win the Ballon d’Or

Pep Guardiola insists Erling Haaland’s goal is to win more titles with Manchester City and not the Ballon d’Or.

His comments come after Jamie Carragher revealed what he thinks the goal machine needs to change to win the prestigious award.

“If his only interest is in breaking goalscoring records, he doesn’t need to change anything,” he said in his column for the Telegraph.

“If he has serious ambitions to win the Ballon d’Or and play for Real Madrid, he may have a problem. He needs to add more to his game to take that step and seriously challenge his rival for the title of best player of Spain. his generation, Kylian Mbappé.”

Carragher also called Haaland, who has scored 30 goals for City this season, the “ultimate luxury footballer”.

But Guardiola believes the striker should focus more on achieving success with his club and that he still has room for improvement.

“The goal is not to win the Ballon d’Or,” he said on Friday before the clash against Luton Town. “The aim is to win Premier Leagues, Champions Leagues, FA Cups, Carabao Cups and he has done that.

“Without him, what we won last season, five titles, would not be possible, without him, no chance, impossible.

“He is a key player for us and he will improve because for his age and his desire, more matches, more experience, getting to the latter stages of competitions has never happened in his career.

“So that’s his future, but it’s not the same with Erling, any player, even at 33 you can be better, until you retire you can be better.”

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Haaland had an incredible debut season at City last season scoring 52 goals in 53 appearances in all competitions.

Although he doesn’t look set to reach such a tally this time around, he has nevertheless proven vital as the club continue to compete for the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

Despite this, the Norwegian has not been immune to criticism, with Roy Keane recently saying he was “almost like a League Two player” after struggling against Arsenal.

Aged just 23, Haaland is set to dominate the goalscoring charts for the next decade alongside fellow superstar Mbappe.

The duo are tipped as future winners of the Ballon d’Or, an award dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in recent seasons.

And Haaland could very well be champion of this distinction since he remains one of the best scorers in world football.