Glen Johnson believes Manchester City should prioritise signing Erling Haaland next summer as the race for the Norwegian heats up.
Gary Neville said the Premier League would have been done by December had Manchester City signed Harry Kane in the summer, with Pep Guardiola’s side desperately lacking a no. 9 in their team to lead the line. Having failed in the pursuit of the Tottenham striker, it may be unlikely the Premier League champions would go back for him.
There is, however, a more attractive striker option potentially available next summer as Erling Haaland would be in demand when a fixed release clause activates in his Borussia Dortmund contract. The fee would be somewhere between £68 million and £75 million for the Norwegian goal machine, as the big clubs prepare to sign the frontman for a battle.
PSG, Bayern Munich, the Manchester clubs and Real Madrid are being linked with a move, but his agent Mino Raiola seems to be demanding a staggering £800,000-a-week in wages for Haaland, which may become a sticking point. Chelsea, who were keen on him, might have dropped out due to the salary demands, choosing to sign Romelu Lukaku instead in the summer.
According to Glen Johnson, Manchester City should prioritise his signing over any other player as the Norwegian is expected to leave the Bundesliga club next summer. The former Liverpool and Chelsea star was adamant on talkSPORT to suggest if he were Manchester City’s owner, he would do just that over any other player, including Kylian Mbappe.
Johnson said, “Erling Haaland is the obvious one. He’s got a lot of time in front of him and looks like the type of player who would suit the Premier League. I know there’s talk of Kylian Mbappe leaving PSG, but for me, if I was a City owner and I could sign one player, it would be Haaland.”
As we near next summer’s window, the actual figure of the release clause would be much clearer, and either way, this would still be in the affordable range for all major clubs in Europe.
The most interesting angle would be to know which clubs are willing to pay heed to Raiola’s wage demands to sign Haaland and make him their no. 9. Manchester City would certainly benefit from a player of his profile, who could complement other stars in the side such as Phil Foden and Jack Grealish.
