Bayern Munich ruled themselves out of the race to sign Erling Haaland, apparently leaving Manchester City and Real Madrid to slug it out. The Blues are in pole position to land the 21-year-old Borussia Dortmund striker, but Spanish giants Real are refusing to give up, with Haaland available under the £64million terms of his release clause.
The package, with agent fees, is expected to rise closer to £100m, and Bayern have said that such an amount is beyond them. Haaland could announce his future before the end of the season, and City have been thrashing out a financial package after making him their number one target for the summer.
With all of the top clubs in Europe interested, City have always held aces - they have no recognised striker at the moment, know that Haaland is a City fan after dad Alf Inge played there, and they have emerged from the financial troubles of lockdown in a healthier condition than most due to a lesser reliance on matchday revenue.
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Other English clubs and Barcelona have all fallen by the wayside, and it seemed to be a two-way fight between City and Real. But news that Robert Lewandowski could leave German champions Bayern this summer resurrected the possibility that they could re-enter the chase.
That was effectively ruled out by Bayern chief executive Oliver Kahn over the weekend, saying that the money needed is beyond them - Bayern have been hit hard by the lockdown of football stadiums during the pandemic.
"We wouldn't do our job properly if we didn't deal with a young striker like him," said Kahn. "He has shown with the level of his performances at Dortmund that he is an excellent striker and a very interesting player for the future, but the Haaland package is far, far from what we imagined.”
Haaland returned from injury to end his drought of 600 minutes without a goal, scoring twice in the 6-1 win over Wolfsburg, and take his tally to 151 goals in 196 games. That sharpened up for Dortmund’s clash with Bayern next weekend - a game they need to win to stop Bayern clinching the Bundesliga title.
Kahn said that their priority is to persuade 33-year-old Lewandowski to stay: "We are talking to him and we want him to stay at Bayern for as long as possible. Top players sometimes think about trying different things and it takes time to convince them."
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