Former England forward Wayne Rooney has tipped Manchester City striker Erling Haaland to win the prestigious Ballon d’Or this season. The 22-year-old Norwegian has been playing at his best for Pep Guardiola’s team.

The youngster has scored 48 goals in 42 appearances across competitions for the Sky Blues this season, with 32 of these goals coming in 28 Premier League matches.

Haaland has been a goal-scoring machine for Manchester City and he deserves all the credit for his consistent performances.

Meanwhile, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the game in the last 15 years. Messi has won the coveted award (Ballon d’Or) on seven occasions whereas Ronaldo has won it five times.

Rooney wrote in his column for The Times: “Erling Haaland is the best footballer in the world right now. Lionel Messi is the greatest but, at this moment, nobody is playing better than a striker who — even though I broke records in that position myself — takes my breath away with the levels he’s reaching. He’s the best in the world because of the numbers he’s posting, the performances he’s putting in and the mentality he shows.”

Rooney feels Messi and Ronaldo’s era is coming to an end and Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe could dominate the game in the next decade.

“If you’re looking at who is going to win the Ballon d’Or then it has got to be him, providing he keeps up his form of this season. And why wouldn’t he? A record of 224 goals in 264 games is the mark of a player whose standards don’t drop. We’ve had the era of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, now this is his time, the era of Haaland and Kylian Mbappé. When there is a talent like him around you just have to enjoy it — even if he is wearing a Manchester City shirt.”

“One of the things I like most about him is how different he is to nearly all modern players. Everyone wants the ball to feet these days but he wants to run off the ball in almost an old-fashioned way — run in behind and use his power to get clear, then his composure to beat the keeper. There’s something raw about how he plays, his hunger to score is huge. Like Messi and Ronaldo did, he could dominate the game for ten years.”

Manchester City will next face table-toppers Arsenal on Wednesday night.