Bernardo Silva's Ballon d'Or prediction with Man City is coming true

Manchester City have cemented their place at the top of world football by dominating the list of nominees for this year's Ballon d'Or.

Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, Julian Alvarez, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva have all had their names included following their heroics last season, while new signing Josko Gvardiol is also a notable inclusion. Winning the treble is no mean feat, and the nominations are just reward for those players who helped lead City to their historic achievement.

One of those players, however, is the more likely to be handed the award in Paris at the end of October. Haaland scored an incredible 52 goals in 53 games across all competitions to lead City to their Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League wins, quickly becoming the talisman for Pep Guardiola's side following his £52m move from Borussia Dortmund last summer.

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And the fact Haaland is a frontrunner for this year's Ballon d'Or is something his teammates have long been aware of. Speaking ahead of City's Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid in May, Bernardo predicted Haaland would be 'in the discussion' should his side go on and win the tournament.

Speaking to France Football, Silva said, "If Haaland wins Premier League and Champions League, you can put him in the Ballon d'Or discussion, and you can also talk about VinÍ Jr. if Madrid win the Champions League. In general, it is between Messi and the winner of the Champions League."

City beat Real Madrid 4-0 just days after Bernardo's comments before lifting the trophy in Istanbul. As the Portugal international says, after Haaland's exploits he could well be in with a chance of claiming the