MANCHESTER CITY are the ‘best placed’ team to land Erling Haaland this summer in a blockbuster transfer that will cost more than £200million.
That is the view of Barcelona who are rivals in the chase for his signature.
According to COPE in Spain, the Catalan giants are working hard to try and bring in the Borussia Dortmund striker.
But the report states the combined transfer fee, wages and agent costs will see the total value of the deal surpass the £200m mark.
The buying club will need to trigger Haaland’s relatively-low £63m release clause but would likely pay representative Mino Raiola a mammoth fee – possibly as much as £47m – and then match the Norwegian’s £825,000-per-week wage demands.
Barcelona are still in economic chaos with major debts so would be unlikely to match the monetary power of the Etihad club – even if a financial deal with CVC is secured.
Mundo Deportivo add that although Haaland is understood to want to play in LaLiga, the opportunity to work under Pep Guardiola is a ‘big attraction’.
City are the frontrunners for Haaland alongside Barca’s arch-enemies Real Madrid.
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PSG and Bayern Munich could still be interested but Manchester United are well off the pace as their search for a long-term No9 may be forced to take a different direction.
Real want to partner Kylian Mbappe and Haaland up front together but may wait until the end of next season to go for the Dortmund ace once Karim Benzema’s contract expires.
City’s only genuine striker is Gabriel Jesus – although even he rarely plays as the centre forward.
Instead, Guardiola has deployed the likes of Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish in a false No9 role since Sergio Aguero’s exit.
The City boss wanted to land Harry Kane last summer but saw their nine-figure bids rejected by Spurs.
This time around, though, they are desperate to add Haaland to their devastating attack force.
The former Red Bull Salzburg hitman has smashed in an impressive 80 goals in just 79 appearances since switching to the Westfalenstadion in January 2020.
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