Erling Haaland has reportedly agreed terms with Manchester City to move to the Etihad Stadium as the Premier League 's highest earner.
The striker has starred for Borussia Dortmund since joining the Bundesliga giants in the January 2020 transfer window. His contract at the Black and Yellow will see a release clause become active at the end of this season, sparking intense interest from several top clubs across Europe.
City, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain have all been linked with moves for the 21-year-old as they look to capitalise on what will be a bargain price release clause. Haaland is all but certain to move on from Signal Iduna Park and it appears his next destination is close to being confirmed.
According to the Daily Mail, City are closing in on making Haaland their next superstar signing. It is stated that the pursuit of Haaland has taken a 'significant step' with terms having been agreed between the Premier League leaders and the Norwegian.
City are now expected to trigger the release clause in his contract at some point in the near future. Haaland will receive a sizeable financial reward for making the Etihad Stadium his next home ground.
The report states that City are ready to make him the Premier League's highest-paid player in the history of the competition. A weekly wage of more than £500,000 is expected to come Haaland's way, taking him above Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo.
Such a wage will also take him above the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, who is currently paid £385,000 a week. It is thought that Haaland will 'likely' sign a five-year deal with City, with a deal expected to be agreed within the next week.
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Haaland's father Alf-Inge is said to have been 'heavily involved' in negotiations having spent three years at City during his playing career. City will be hoping that Haaland brings the form that has seen him become a huge success at Dortmund over to Manchester.
He has scored 25 goals in 26 games this season, including a double in Dortmund's 6-1 thrashing of Wolfsburg at the weekend. That takes his tally to 82 strikes in 85 appearances since his arrival in Germany, a remarkable figure given his season has been severely disrupted by injury this term.
If the deal goes through as expected, it will finally bring an end to City's search for a striker. They attempted to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham last summer, but saw that pursuit fail as they refused to pay the London club's asking price.
Boss Pep Guardiola will hope that a deal can be confirmed in time for Haaland to make his debut during City's pre-season tour to the United States in July. The Spaniard has previously made it clear that signing a striker was his priority for the upcoming window.
“I think the club definitely needs a striker. We tried, but sometimes it’s not possible. We are not going to buy one for a number if they’re not going to give us something special," Guardiola said at the start of March.
“I am a guy who is comfortable when we have 14, 15, 16 players and after five or six in the academy. We need a striker and I think the club is going to try. If it happens, it happens, but if it doesn’t, we’ll wait.”
