Manchester City are bracing the possibility of Sergio Aguero leaving when his contract is up at the end of the season by identifying potential replacements for the 32-year-old.
The Sky Blues have been linked with Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku and Danny Ings recently, but Fabrizio Romano wrote for CBS Sports that City are ‘blocked’ from signing Haaland as Borussia Dortmund have no intention of doing business.
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Haaland has scored 88 career goals in 134 games and is only 20 years of age. The Norwegian international has six in seven games for his country too, so it’s easy to see why City are interested. Dortmund have the striker tied down until 2024, however, and aren’t looking to sell until 2022.
The former RB Salzburg man will have a €75m (£65.3m) release clause that is made valid at the end of next season, so City and others may have to wait a year to make a move.
Haaland is still young and has been remarkably prolific in consecutive seasons – 12 goals in 25 league games for Molde (2018), 16 goals in 14 league games for Salzburg (2019/20), 13 goals in 15 games for Borussia Dortmund (2019/20) and 15 goals in 16 games for Dortmund (2020/21) – so there’s no reason to fear a decine in 12-18 months.
In other news, Manchester City ‘still negotiating’ with Kevin De Bruyne over a ‘contract extension’