Manchester City could end up splashing out £246million to bring in Erling Haaland this summer with Mino Raiola scooping a large fraction of that sum.
Pep Guardiola has made signing a striker a priority in the transfer window at the end of the season and has already identified his main man. Harry Kane was the top target last year but Tottenham put the brakes on any kind of move by refusing to even answer the phone.
But while City were disappointed not to land the England international, they have received and understood the message from Spurs and have moved on. Borussia Dortmund star Haaland is being targeted now instead, as well as most of Europe.
The Premier League champions are not the only ones looking to sign the 21-year-old, with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Manchester United all interested in the striker. But whoever is successful in convincing him to move to their club will have to pay up nearly £250m - all but ruling out most teams keen.
However, that only will bolster City's position - who have the money necessary to bring Haaland to the Etihad and also the drive. The total outlay is boosted by the fact that the player's agent Raiola will take a mighty slice of the pie.
According to Di Marzio, City have already made an offer to the striker that is worth €30m (£25m) a year over five years - totalling £125m in wages. As well as Haaland's salary, an offer has been made worth €75m - Haaland's release clause, worth nearly £63m.
On top of that staggering amount of cash is Raiola's agent fee, which will see him land €70m (£58m). The controversial player representative, who also counts the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Matthijs de Ligt among his clients, is urging Haaland to leave Dortmund this summer.
The Norway international has been in superb form this season and has scored 23 times in 25 appearances in all competitions. An unfortunate injury has halted his goalscoring exploits somewhat, though. Since missing four games in February through muscle problems, he has failed to score in the Bundesliga.
Haaland's mind on leaving this year might have been made up when Dortmund crashed out of the Europa League in embarrassing fashion to Rangers in the first knockout round. A 4-2 defeat at home had the former RB Salzburg star looking fed up in the stands as he missed the entire encounter through injury.
