Manchester City confirms ‘agreement in principle’ for Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland
By Aimee Lewis, CNN
One of the most prolific and sought-after strikers in world football is set to play in the English Premier League next season after Manchester City confirmed an agreement has been reached with Borussia Dortmund for Erling Haaland.
There had been months of speculation concerning the 21-year-old’s future, with rumors of a potential move to City increasing in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, a City statement read: “Manchester City can confirm we have reached an agreement in principle with Borussia Dortmund for the transfer of striker Erling Haaland to the club on July 1 2022.
“The transfer remains subject to the club finalizing terms with the player.”
City will reportedly pay the Norwegian’s 60 million euro (around $63 million) release clause, bringing an end to the EPL champion’s search for a striker following the departure of record scorer Sergio Agüero last summer.
The news of Haaland’s impending move to the Etihad is ominous for City’s rivals as a lack of cutting edge up front has been a relative weakness for Pep Guardiola’s side this season — even though the club still leads the league.
Norway international Haaland has scored 85 goals in 88 appearances for Dortmund since joining from Red Bull Salzburg in January 2020.
He made a prolific start to his Bundesliga career — scoring a hat-trick on his debut — and speculation concerning his next move has followed him throughout his two-and-a-half year spell in Germany.
The striker will follow in his father’s footsteps after former midfielder Alf-Inge Haaland played for City between 2000 and 2003.
Born in the English city of Leeds in 2000, Haaland grew up in Bryne, Norway, and progressed through the junior ranks of the town’s football club.
A move to Molde followed in 2017, and two years later he joined Salzburg, exploding onto the world stage with 29 goals in 27 games — including eight in one Champions League group stage.
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