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Erling Haaland Transfer Agreed to by Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund
May 10, 2022
Manchester City announced Tuesday a deal has been agreed in principle to sign Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.
Per the Guardian, Haaland has a release clause of around £51.5 million ($63.5 million) and will earn roughly £350,000 ($431,000) a week on his new contract from Manchester City, which will begin on July 1.
Because of his relatively modest buyout clause, many expected Haaland to be on the move this summer. He's one of the best young players in the world, and Dortmund appeared to be limiting his ceiling.
The German side is second in the Bundesliga but 10 points behind champions Bayern Munich with one league game left. Dortmund also failed to make it past the group stage of the Champions League this season.
Haaland wasn't going to be long for Signal Iduna Park following yet another prolific campaign. He scored 21 goals in 23 Bundesliga appearances and three goals in as many UCL appearances.
OptaFranz @OptaFranz87 – Erling Haaland has scored a goal on average every 87 minutes in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bundesliga?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bundesliga</a>; the best minutes per goal ratio of any player in the league’s history (min. 25 goals). Farewell. <a href="https://twitter.com/OptaJoe?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OptaJoe</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ManCity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ManCity</a> <a href="https://t.co/Yah778Sp0g">pic.twitter.com/Yah778Sp0g</a>
Manchester City makes perfect sense for the 21-year-old Norwegian. The club is on course to win its fourth Premier League title in five years, and the most glaring area of need within the squad is at striker.
City has scored more goals (89) than any other club in the Premier League, but it lacks the sort of totemic figure to lead the attack that Sergio Aguero was when he called Etihad Stadium home. Raheem Sterling is the leading goalscorer at 12, and the pair of Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez are right behind him with 11.
In Haaland, Manchester City might have the star who can finally deliver the Champions League triumph long coveted.
A possible risk surrounds whether Haaland will naturally fit within manager Pep Guardiola's system.
Barcelona had similar intentions when it signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2009. Barca won La Liga but exited the Champions League in the round of 16 as Ibrahimovic proved to be an insufficient solution up top. The Swedish legend was gone the following summer and has never hid his general disdain toward Guardiola.
Roberto Rojas @RobertoRojas97Have no doubt Erling Haaland is a talented player but will be interesting to see how his success at Man City will be judged by two factors: how consistently fit he’ll be in a grueling season and how Pep uses him as a link up player or a poacher who’s always attacking the spaces.
As great as a Guardiola/Haaland partnership looks on paper, the on-pitch returns will hinge on how well the promising attacker can adapt to what's likely to be a slightly more supporting role than he had at Dortmund.