Erling Haaland is destined to play in Manchester City colours

Manchester City are in the middle of an impressive run, placed second in the Premier League table with only three points separating the Sky Blues and the league leaders in Chelsea. The only fuss for Pep Guardiola has been the lack of a pure finisher in the City ranks.

They have been constantly linked to Bundesliga sensation Erling Braut Haaland and are certainly one of the favorites to snatch him in the upcoming winter window; if at all there is a chance to prise him away from Borussia Dortmund in the middle of the season.

Borussia Dortmund are trying all sorts to extend the Norwegian striker’s stay at the German club by increasing his salary from €8M to €16M per year. With the new deal in place, the buyout clause of €75M could be postponed to next year.

However, all the Haaland competitors are aware of the fact that though the transfer fee is affordable it’s the player’s enormous salary and the hefty commission that is being demanded by his super-agent, Mino Raiola. In short, the entire operation could well cost up to a mammoth €315 million.

The German giants, Bayern Munich aren’t willing to spend an amount so big for the Norwegian goal machine whereas FC Barcelona’s financial services are in tatters, so much so, that they couldn’t even spend a mere €10M on Xavi’s transfer from Al-Sadd (shared between the parties).

In the Premier League, Chelsea and Manchester United have spent lion’s share of their purse on home-coming stars, Romelu Lukaku and Cristiano Ronaldo respectively. Manchester City look the most feasible side on paper for the 21-year-old’s arrival after the failure of the Harry Kane saga. It is unlikely that Chelsea would like to move for Haaland despite having someone like Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner in their ranks.

Real Madrid have also been touted to sign the 21-year-old talent and if there is anyone that could afford or offer an attractive project for Haaland after Manchester City, it is the Los Blancos. Having said that, Haaland would want to rival Mbappe and not play alongside him; not at this stage of his career anyway. Nothing can be said for sure though.

"According to sources, Sky transfer expert Max Bielefeld said“City is the hottest candidate for me. They are looking for a striker next summer and have not gotten Harry can’t.The necessary change would also be there.”"

Pep Guardiola’s side has been quite consistent even without a perfect striker in their ranks with the likes of Ferran Torres, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, and Gabriel Jesus coming to the party. A City eleven with a striker of Haaland stature will send shivers down the spines of the opponents.

So, which club according to you holds the edge in the race to sign Erling Haaland?