Man City Confirm Haaland Transfer, Guardiola Refuses To Comment
Prolific Norwegian will be following in the footsteps of his father, Alf Inge, by linking up with the Blues over the summer. Fresh reports has it that
Manchester City have confirmed that Erling Haaland will be joining them in the summer transfer window, with the reigning Premier League champions agreeing to pay the £64 million ($79m) fee that will trigger a release clause in the striker’s contract at Borussia Dortmund.
The prolific Norway international has been attracting interest from leading sides across Europe since he burst onto a Champions League scene at Red Bull Salzburg in 2019, with the decision taken to head for Germany during the January window of that campaign.
A remarkable strike rate has been maintained at Dortmund, with 85 goals recorded through 88 appearances, and the 21-year-old’s stunning skill set will now be added to star-studded ranks working under Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium.
The general consensus is, with the club’s all-time leading scorer Sergio Aguero having departed as a free agent in 2021, that another fearsome No.9 is needed.
It is no news that Guardiola made several bids to price Harry Kane away from Tottenham ahead of the current campaign, but the England captain proved impossible to obtain from Premier League rivals.
The Blues could be considered to be getting quite the bargain in Haaland, with £64m a relatively small fee to be shelling out in an era where nine-figure price tags are becoming all the rage.
That is, however, the clause that was inserted into his contract when making a switch to Dortmund in the winter of 2020.
It must also be noted that City are having to pay the full figure up front in order to get a deal over the line, rather than spreading the cost over several years – which is how big-money transfer usually work.
They will be hoping to see Haaland hit the ground running when taking on a new challenge in 2022-23, with City looking for him to shake off the niggling injury issues which have held him back at times this season.
Neither City nor Dortmund are commenting officially about the potential transfer, though Pep Guardiola dropped a massive hint on Tuesday.
"Everybody knows the situation," the City manager said at a news conference ahead of the match againstWolverhampton in the Premier League on Wednesday, "but I should not talk because I don't like to talk about the future. Dortmund and Man City have told me I can't say anything until the deal is done.
"I would love to talk, but I can't."