Erling Haaland is Manchester City’s ‘first choice’ target for the summer transfer window with talks planned in the coming weeks.
City are not expected to conduct business in January but will be active during the summer window, with the signing of a left-back, midfielder and forward all on the agenda for the Premier League champions.
Haaland is set to find himself at the centre of a transfer tussle between Europe’s elite with the Norway international’s €75m release clause at Borussia Dortmund set to become active at the end of the season.
City are planning to open talks with the player’s representatives in the coming weeks over a potential deal, as Pep Guardiola’s side look to beat the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain to his signature.
The Athletic are reporting that Real Madrid are viewed as the biggest threat to City’s chances of signing the 21-year-old, but the Spanish side are also chasing a deal for Kylian Mbappe in a move which could ‘dissuade’ Haaland from moving to the Bernabeu.
Manchester United are also interested but there are doubts whether Haaland views the Red Devils as a potential destination, whilst Liverpool have been tentatively speculated as contenders but would need to break their wage structure to secure a deal.
Haaland has scored 76 goals in just 74 appearances for Dortmund since arriving from Red Bull Salzburg in a £20m deal in January 2020.
City failed in their attempts to sign Harry Kane last summer, but could revive that interest should a move for Haaland not materialise at the end of the season.
Dusan Vlahovic – the leading scorer in Serie A at present – has also been mentioned as a transfer target, alongside Real Sociedad’s Alexander Isak.
