Manchester City have been closely watched in recent times simply because they lack a quality striker in their ranks. It’s high time for Pep Guardiola’s men to launch the bid for perhaps this generation’s most prominent talent, Erling Braut Haaland.
Brazilian Superstar, Neymar Jr stills holds the record for the Highest transfer of all time in football history. A mammoth €222M was the price at which he switched tables from his former club, FC Barcelona to the Ligue-1 rulers Paris Saint Germain.
The release clause for Haaland is €75M, but the player’s hefty salary and his agent, Mino Raiola’s enormous commission well takes the total cost of the operation above €300 million.
The 21-year-old has been constantly tipped for a switch to European Giants, like Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Manchester City.
The Bundesliga Front runners are in the middle of a daunting run, thanks to the sizzling form of Robert Lewandowski. They are in no mood to tinker with their front three and hence a move at this point in time is highly uncertain. Moreover, the Bavarians are not the type of club that would splash this kind of money on a single player.
The Spanish rivals, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have contrasting reasons for the deal to be unfeasible. The former’s financial services are in tatters while the latter have been on red alert ever since Kylian Mbappe mentioned his ambitions. It is unlikely that Haaland would want to play alongside Mbappe at this stage of his career, given that there is already a sense of rivalry brewing between the two generational talents.
English clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United have already been active in the summer window with the transfers of Romelu Lukaku and Cristiano Ronaldo respectively. Hence to think that they would go in for another striker in Erling Haaland; it does not make sense!
The Cityzens are the firm favorites to sign the Norweigan talent simply because of their financial strength and their capability to offer Haaland an attractive sporting project.
His addition to City’s ranks will bolster the attacking third which is already star-studded with the lights of Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Ferran Torres, Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez, and Gabriel Jesus.
If at all Manchester City manage to snatch Erling Haaland, it would be an absolute mega-move and will easily eclipse the Neymar transfer fee.
So, where will Haaland end up at the end of this season or (unlikely to happen) this winter window?
Please comment with your opinions.