The European Sports Media have announced their first top eleven of the season. In August, Erling Haaland stood out above all
Manchester City’s start could not have gone much better: Haaland landed in the top eleven of August for eleven of the twelve participating European sports media, with the City attacker recording by far the most votes. This is hardly surprising in view of his nine goals in five Premier League games, including two trebles. The Norwegian joins Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic, his first ‘chaser’ in the scoring charts, and PSG star Neymar, who has shone in Ligue 1 with seven goals in five games.
Four players who featured in the last preseason edition in May have also made it into the first ESM eleven of the new season: Haaland’s teammates Kevin De Bruyne and Joao Cancelo, as well as Real professionals Thibaut Courtois and Luka Modric.
While Serie A is the only one of the top five leagues not to field a player at all in August, at least one Bundesliga player is included: Bayern defender Benjamin Pavard convinced those entitled to vote at the start of the season and – alongside his former team-mate David Alaba, among others – is in the defence of the selection.