Erling Haaland transfer: Manchester City announce transfer deal for Borussia Dortmund superstar
The rich just get richer. Manchester City, already with what is considered the most talented team in the world, adds Erling Haaland, arguably the best young player in the game. On Tuesday, City announced they had reached an agreement in principle with Borussia Dortmund to sign the striker. Haaland is considered by many to be one of the best strikers in the game and has produced an incredibly prolific career despite being just 21 years old. The move awaits the club to finalize terms with the player, City announced on Tuesday.
Haaland completed the medical with City on Monday and fills a void in the striker that has plagued the club over recent seasons. Top European clubs, including Real Madrid and Barcelona, were interested in the striker as one of the biggest transfer dominoes failed before the window opened in June. Haaland is set to bid farewell to Borussia Dortmund on Saturday after the season finale at home against Hertha Berlin.
The Norway international, who burst onto the scene with nine goals in a game at the 2019 U-20 World Cup, made a name for himself on the European stage under American Jesse Marsch at the Red Bull Salzburg before improving at Dortmund. At Salzburg, he scored 28 goals in 22 games during the half of the 2019-20 season. He moved to Dortmund in January 2020 and scored 16 goals in 18 games. His first full season in Germany saw him find the net 41 times in 41 games, and so far this season he has scored 28 goals in 29 games. In 199 professional club games, he scored 154 times.
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Haaland was actually born in England – in Leeds to be precise – where Marsch, his former manager, is now a coach. Haaland’s father Alf-inge Haaland was playing for Leeds at the time and later moved to Man City.
He joins a Pep Guardiola side looking to get over the Champions League hump after crashing out soon after. Despite the defensive issues, the need for a striker is also clear, despite the domestic dominance. Haaland would arguably be the most talented striker they’ve ever had and hand them their first dominant No.9 since the start of Sergio Aguero’s career.
Haaland opted for the Manchester City project after much consideration which included his super agent Mino Raiola, died April 30, but was part of the process until the very end. Haaland underwent the medicals in Brussels on Monday, and in the next few hours Manchester City will activate the release clause as written in the deal with Borussia Dortmund. The release clause at the end will be closer to $63.3m (€60m) rather than $79.2m (€75m) as previously reported. Moreover, Haaland’s side have agreed with Manchester City on a salary that won’t go beyond that of Kevin De Bruyne, who is now worth around $462,700 a week (£375,000). Haaland will sign a five-year contract until June 2027.
