Eriling Haaland's father Alf-Inge is playing an increasingly influential role in brokering the Borussia Dortmund striker’s next move.
Haaland senior, the former Norwegian international midfielder who played for Nottingham Forest, Leeds and Manchester City, has always been a key figure in shaping Erling’s career.
But it is understood that he has become more involved in direct negotiations with clubs who are interested in signing his 21-year-old son when a clause in his contract kicks in to allow him to leave Dortmund for £68million in the summer.
And that could boost Pep Guardiola’s chances of luring Haaland to City ahead of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.
Super agent Mino Raiola is the player’s official representative.
The Monaco-based Dutch-Italian fell out spectacularly with the City manager when he accused Guardiola of treating Zlatan Ibrahimovic like a dog at Barcelona.
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And while City don’t feel that would be a stumbling block in their bid to land the top striker Guardiola has craved since Sergio Aguero left the club, they have good links to the Haaland family.
Madrid want to pair Haaland with Kylian Mbappe, the French striker who can leave PSG for free when his contract expires in the summer.
PSG see him as a replacement for Mbappe, while Barcelona are looking to rebuild after losing Lionel Messi with Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool also linked with the player in the past.
Haaland’s availability at a bargain price means he can demand a big signing-on fee and wages to match.
Haaland was born in Leeds just a few weeks before his dad made his debut for City following a £2.5million transfer.
A knee injury forced Alfie to retire three years later, but he has been a regular visitor to the Etihad since he stopped playing.
The young striker claimed last month that he felt under pressure from his current club to decide his future.
He said: "Borussia Dortmund are now pushing me to make a decision about things but I just want to play football.
"That probably means that I will soon have to get things started."
However, in a recent subsequent interview he declared: "I don't really want to say too much about it [his previous remarks], but I felt it was time for me to say something.
"A lot of others were speaking - so that was it. Now, I don't want to say too much. I said what I said, and now we move on."
His original comments were interpreted by many as signs of unhappiness at the Signal Iduna Park, while his "get things started" remark was taken as a suggestion Raiola was getting the wheels in motion for a new challenge elsewhere.
Haaland started his career in Norway with Bryne and moved to Molde in 2017 where he spent two seasons with the club before signing with Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg in 2019.
At Salzburg, he won two Austrian Bundesliga titles and one Austrian Cup before he moved to Dortmund in 2020
