Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland names Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos and Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly as two of his best centre backs in world football… but which Premier League star completes the striker’s trio?
- Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland named his top three defenders in football
- The 20-year-old striker won the 2020 Golden Boy award after more goalscoring
- Kalidou Koulibaly and Sergio Ramos were among those listed by Haaland
Borussia Dortmund wonderkid Erling Haaland has named the best three defenders in world football that he has come up against.
The 20-year-old striker has caused havoc for Europe’s elite in the past couple seasons, and has netted 33 goals from his last 32 games – a feat that saw him awarded with the 2020 Golden Boy award.
Despite his goalscoring antics, Haaland hasn’t always had his own way on some of the biggest stages and took time to recognised some of the steely defenders who have given him the toughest games.
Borussia Dortmund star Erling Braut Haaland named his best three defenders in the world
The 20-year-old striker has caused havoc this season and won the 2020 Golden Boy award
He told Norwegian newspaper VG: ‘I think the best three central defenders in the world are Sergio Ramos, Virgil van Dijk and Kalidou Koulibaly.
‘All three are very physical, but also very intelligent on the pitch.’
Among those who have impressed the Norway international is former Manchester United and City transfer target Koulibaly.
Haaland faced up against Napoli centre-back in last season’s Champions League group stage, and while he recognised the Senegalese defender as one of the best, he still had two productive matches against him, scoring three goals in two games against the Serie A club.
Haaland faced up against Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly in last season’s Champions League
Liverpool stalwart Virgil van Dijk also made Haaland’s top three after some tricky matches
He also mentioned Liverpool defender Van Dijk, who proved a tricky opponent during last season’s Champions League group stage while he still played for RB Salzburg.
The 20-year-old did find the back of the net as the Austrian side were narrowly beaten 4-3 in a showstopper at Anfield, before Jurgen Klopp’s Reds won 2-0 at Red Bull Arena.
Real Madrid centre-back Sergio Ramos is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders to ever play, and is still going strong at the Bernabeu at 34 years old.
Real Madrid centre-back Sergio Ramos is widely regarded as one of the best defenders around
There is a chance that Haaland could line up on the same team as the Spaniard, with the LaLiga giants long-term admirers of the striker and Zinedine Zidane will likely turn up the heat in his pursuit of him next summer.
However, Ramos is currently in the midst of a contract tussle with Los Blancos and could be on the move at the end of the season.
Tottenham have emerged as the latest side to be monitoring the defender’s situation, with a host of other clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain also keeping tabs.