Manchester City reportedly have a deal in place to sign Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland in the summer.
The Norwegian international, 21, is one of the sought-after players in world football thanks to his ridiculous goalscoring record of 149 goals in 190 career games. Despite enduring an injury-hit campaign with Borussia Dortmund, he has still netted 23 goals across all competitions to date.
According to the Daily Mail, Manchester City have reached a deal with Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland to take him to the Etihad Stadium next season.
The transfer fee is expected to be a fairly modest £63million, which happens to be his release clause.
The likes of Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United have shown interest in Haaland, but Manchester City appear to have emerged as the front-runners for the Norwegian striker’s services along with Real Madrid.
Nonetheless, the report adds the 21-year-old will choose to play in the Premier League for the Sky Blues, who could afford a total outlay close to £100million, including agent fees and signing-on bonus.
Erling Haaland to Manchester City – How will he fit in?
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has been in the market for a striker since the last summer transfer window. He hadn’t adequately replaced Sergio Aguero, who left the Etihad Stadium on a free transfer to Barcelona in 2021 before hanging up his boots due to a heart condition.
Furthermore, City lost Ferran Torres to Barcelona during the January transfer window, which weakened Guardiola’s options in attack.
🚨 Erling Haaland favours a move to Real Madrid this summer over Manchester City. The Spanish giants are working hard to complete the signings of both Haaland and Mbappé.
(Source: @Santi_J_FM) pic.twitter.com/Ykm5Df4nod
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) March 14, 2022
While the Sky Blues agreed a deal with River Plate for highly-rated striker Julian Alvarez, who is due to arrive in the summer, Guardiola wants a readymade no.9 that will walk straight into his starting XI and score goals. Erling Haaland, in that regard, is an ideal fit for Manchester City.
Rated as one of the hottest properties in world football, Haaland suit City’s pressing style of play. He could operate for Manchester City as he does for Dortmund and Norway, starting as the centre-forward and having plenty of joy linking with attacking talents like Bernardo Silva, Kevin de Bruyne, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez.
The youngster would potentially give City the best attack in the Premier League as well as in Europe. Haaland may well be the ideal Aguero successor the Cityzens have been crying out for.
Due to his ability to link up play, create chances and score goals in equal measure from the no.9 role, Haaland is the archetypal Guardiola forward who could be a game-changer for the Mancunian club next season.
A sublime talent with great potential, Manchester City will do an excellent job by signing Haaland from Dortmund at the end of the season.
