Man City star Erling Haaland skips Ballon d'Or ceremony for trip to Sweden to support close friend and rap partner in Malmo clash

Haaland has been nominated for the 2024 Ballon d'Or award this season and while the Norwegian had a very successful 2023-24 campaign with Manchester City, the striker was not a favourite to win the award with his team-mate Rodri and Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior labelled as the likeliest candidates. As such, Haaland decided to skip the ceremony altogether in Paris, and he travelled to Sweden to watch Malmo's clash against Goteborg.

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Malmo took on bitter rivals Goteborg at Eleda Stadium, where a 2-1 win gave them their second straight Allsvenskan title and fourth in five years. Who knows, perhaps Haaland will try to sneak his way into the celebrations.

While playing for Norway's youth national team, Haaland and Botheim became friends. They also appeared together in a rap video with Erik Sandberg that has received over 12 million views on YouTube.

The Norwegian will now travel back to England as Pep Guardiola's men prepare for their Carabao Cup round of 16 clash against Tottenham on Wednesday, October 30.