Manchester City fans concerned about the future of Erling Haaland have received a boost with reports suggesting Real Madrid moved closer to signing a young superstar of their own.
Ever since Haaland joined City in the summer, there has been constant speculation about how much of his five-year contract he will see out. That's because City and Real Madrid went head-to-head to sign the Norwegian striker, and although Haaland chose City his desire to one day play for the Spanish giants is no secret.
Earlier this season details of Haaland's City contract were clarified; there is a release clause in his contract that will become active in 2024, although it cannot be activated by a Premier League club.
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That leaves open the possibility that Los Blancos will make a move in 2024, but the reports that they are close to signing Brazilian wonderkid Endrick could help to lessen those fears.
On Thursday Fabrizio Romano reported that Real Madrid have agreed to sign the 16-year-old for €60m, although he will not move to the Bernabeu until 2024 when he is 18.
talkSPORT report that depending on how the player develops over the next year-and-a-half, Madrid may decide not to pursue a superstar striker like Haaland as that would impact Endrick's minutes in the team.
Meanwhile, City could enter the transfer market for a central midfielder despite the quality options Pep Guardiola already has.
That's according to Massimo Pavan, writing for Tutto Juve, who said that City are offering 'more or less' £26m to sign defensive midfielder Nicolo Rovella from Juventus.
The 21-year-old is currently enjoying a successful loan spell at Serie A newcomers Monza, so much so that he is attracting the attention of several elite European clubs.
It isn't unreasonable to suggest that City could look to refresh their midfield in the summer. After all, Ilkay Gundogan is entering the final months of his contract and there remain doubts over the future of Bernardo Silva.
However, Rovella's favoured position is defensive midfield so it's hard to see him competing for minutes with either Rodri or Kalvin Phillips.
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