Since the beginning of March, a series of reports from England, Spain and Germany have deemed Manchester City to be the frontrunners in the race to sign Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund when the 21-year-old’s release clause worth £63 million gets activated this summer.
While Barcelona and Real Madrid have both been credited with an interest in the Norway international, it has been reported recently that the Premier League champions have a deal reaching £100 million in place to sign the striker ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
It was reported last week that Haaland – while yet to make a concrete decision on his next club – is keen to progress further in his career and is keen to avoid agreeing to the most lucrative financial offer on the table.
Borussia Dortmund head of first-team football Sebastian Kehl recently rubbished such claims by stating that there is not precise date or time for Haaland to make a decision on his future despite reports in recent weeks.
In an interview with German newspaper BILD this week, Dortmund’s chief executive officer Hans Joachim Watzke had admitted that the Bundesliga outfit will be unable to compete financially with Manchester City should they come in for their star forward in the summer transfer window.
Watzke said: “We currently know nothing concrete from the players’ side, nor has anyone approached us. But we know that we can’t keep up financially if Manchester City come (for Erling Haaland),” as translated and relayed by Sport Witness.
“We have already experienced this a few times. We lost (Robert) Lewandowski to Bayern Munich in 2014 and (Pierre-Emerick) Aubameyang to Arsenal in 2018. But to be honest, we have also always created a new star.”
As per recent reports, Manchester City have the funds in place to finance a deal over €200 million for Haaland – including his release clause, wages, agent fees and other add-ons.
It has been claimed that the current Premier League leaders view Haaland as a definitive signing that would help them go all the way in Europe and finally win the Champions League – a stage where the Blues have repeatedly faltered despite all their domestic success under Pep Guardiola.
Haaland would reportedly demand a net annual salary in the region of €20-25 million – a figure which can be matched by Manchester City and Real Madrid, the two sides who have been labelled as the leading contenders in the race to sign the Leeds-born forward.
It emerged last week that Erling Haaland’s father Alf-Inge and agent Mino Raiola rejected an offer from Manchester City – including a weekly salary package worth €600,000 – for the Borussia Dortmund forward in mid-March.
The Borussia Dortmund striker’s camp have reportedly commissioned data analysis to explore what the best route would be for the youngster in the immediate future, with the former Red Bull Salzburg man holding the belief that his next move will play a key role in his ambitions of being the best player in the world.
While Manchester City have a clear career plan in mind for the Norwegian, Haaland’s camp are reportedly carrying out extensive due diligence on the striker’s next step ahead of what is undoubtedly a huge impending decision for the Borussia Dortmund superstar’s career.
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