Manchester City appear to be close to the signing of Erling Haaland with Borussia Dortmund advisor Matthias Sammer revealing he ‘passed out’ when he saw the figures involved in the deal.
The Norwegian striker – who has netted 16 goals in 15 Bundesliga games this campaign – is on the wish-list of most of the biggest teams in Europe, with Real Madrid long interested in signing him and Manchester United also keen.
Barcelona manager Xavi was even rumoured to have flown to Germany this month to meet with Haaland in Munich, where he had been recovering from an injury.
But Manchester City may have stolen a march on their rivals and could even announce the agreement for Haaland by the end of next month.
Pep Guardiola’s side are said to have an agreement in place already and, according to German newspaper Bild, they will need to activate the release clause in Haaland’s contract – which is worth £63m – by April 30.
Now Sammer, who worked with Guardiola at Bayern and now has an advisory position at Dortmund, has fuelled the rumours by claiming he has already seen the transfer figures being discussed – though a deal is not complete.
When Amazon Prime Video pundit Mario Gomez said he was ‘excited’ to see how Haaland will perform under Guardiola, Sammer replied: ‘They will both benefit from each other.
‘Because Pep, of course – I was able to experience him for three years – has a certain idea. I can also imagine dealing with a centre-forward, no question. But he will also have to learn from the centre-forward.’
Asked if the deal is already done, Sammer added: ‘I don’t know. I was fully focused on this match [Manchester United v Atletico Madrid].
‘I didn’t hear anything today, yesterday, the day before yesterday. I know City is after him. The numbers – I had whiplash! I passed out. My wife picked me up again. Accordingly, it is possible.’
According to the Daily Mail, City will make Haaland the highest-paid player in England and have tabled a contract worth in excess of £500,000-a-week, with the club now firmly in the driving seat to sign the frontman.
