Haaland Edging Closer to Manchester City Deal

1276

Manchester City have a thrilling end to the season to negotiate, with the Premier League title and Champions League on the line. However, the club is not only focusing on the immediate targets and they are working behind the scenes to bring in new players for next season.

One man who appears set to join Pep Guardiola’s team for the 2022/23 season is Erling Haaland.

The Borussia Dortmund striker was always going to leave the Bundesliga side in the summer. Haaland has a 75-million-euro release clause, which is nothing for a striker of his age and ability. Several clubs around Europe would love to add Haaland to their squad for next season but it appears Manchester City are going to win the race to sign the Norwegian international.

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain have previously been linked with the player but despite the transfer fee being low for a player of Haaland’s quality, some of the other figures involved in the deal are going to be mind blowing.

It has been reported in the British press that Haaland is going to be earning £500,000 per week, making him the highest paid player in the Premier League.

It will be interesting to see what the other players in the Manchester City squad think of that figure when comparing their own salaries to that of Haaland.

Erling will not be the first of the Haaland family to play for Manchester City as his father, Alfie, played for the club between 2000 and 2003. Alfie will be hoping his son enjoys more success at the Etihad Stadium but will the striker be a good fit for Manchester City?

Manchester City like to get in behind teams and cut the ball back to score goals. Haaland is happy to drive into the box and should score a sizeable number of goals from cutbacks into the penalty area.

Manchester City are also willing to swing the ball into the box from out wide, with Riyad Mahrez being a good example of a player who cuts back and sends in teasing crosses. Again, this is the sort of service which Haaland will enjoy and the Norwegian can finish all types of chances, including headers.

Haaland has made 21 appearances in the Bundesliga at the time of writing in the 2021/22 season and scored 18 goals. He also has 8 assists to his name in the German topflight and scored 3 goals in as many Champions League appearances.

However, there has been some concern over Haaland’s injury record this season. He has missed chunks of the season due to muscular and hip problems. Having returned from a muscular injury at the beginning of March, the goals have not been flowing for Haaland.

Ahead of the match with VFL Bochum on the 30th of April, Haaland has scored only 2 goals in 5 starts. He may be slowly working his way back to full fitness but injury setbacks are something Manchester City will want to avoid for such a big long term financial investment.