Summary

  • Man City agree deal for Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland

  • Move is 'subject to club finalising terms with the player'

  • Let us know your thoughts on #bbcfootball

Live Reporting

  1. Goodbye

    Erling Haaland will likely have a big part in next season's title race.

    But this season's title race is far from over - and this live text will close now so we can focus on Aston Villa v Liverpool.

    Follow that one over here.

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  3. Get Involved

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    Don't really understand why so many of the comments are fixating on money. In the current transfer market, £51m isn't a huge fee, there have been countless more expensive transfers over the last few years. Most of the top European clubs could afford Haaland, it was simply a question of who needed him and who could persuade him to join.

    Tom, Nottingham

  4. Get Involved

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    Let's not forget City have also signed one of the best young forwards in Argentina's Julian Alvarez in January! If he gets a work permit, Alvarez and Haaland will cause chaos! One is 5ft 7 and the other 6ft 6!

    Anon

  5. Even though City are within touching distance of a second successive Premier League title achieved without an orthodox centre-forward, Guardiola has always stressed his desire to have one.

    City tried hard to get Harry Kane from Tottenham last summer but Spurs chairman Daniel Levy refused to sell.

    And, with Kane having two years left on his contract, Haaland is an easier deal to conclude given his release clause.

    He has scored 92 league goals in 121 appearances for Molde, Red Bull Salzburg and Dortmund and last year became the youngest player to reach 20 Champions League goals.

    Haaland's father Alf-Inge played for City between 2000 and 2003 in a career that also saw him represent Leeds and Nottingham Forest.

  6. Get Involved

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    Col D: There's no guarantee that signing Haaland will make City unstoppable. Ronaldo & Lukaku were meant to do that for their clubs but disrupt the playing style. City win most games now anyway, he only makes a difference in a handful of games & could be injured for those.

  7. 'He's too good'

    Former Norway and Manchester United defender Henning Berg was on BBC 5 Live speaking about Manchester City’s latest signing: "He’s too good.

    "They have done fantastically well without having a top striker and now they have a top striker so you can only imagine what they will be like now. It is good news for City fans, not so much for United fans.

    "The Premier League is at a high level, teams are a bit more even. In Germany you have Bayern Munich who wins it every year and you have Borussia Dortmund who are close, but not so close this year.

    "In the Premier League the level is much higher overall for many teams.

    "He is going to Manchester City and they will produce chances. The players he will play with will fit him perfectly. As a number nine, as a goalscorer you cannot go to a better team because they get the ball in the box so many times.

    "I think he will fit in perfectly, they will not play with the dropping striker. Haaland can drop in and make a combination and link up with the others but that is not his biggest strength.

    "You want him in the box as often as possible to make his moves and his timings of his runs and his power in the box, which very good together with his finishing. They will play a more normal traditional number nine. They have so many technical players who can feed him.

    "Now Manchester City will have a physical strength and power threat in the box which they have not had in a long time."

  9. Get Involved

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    Great signing by City, no one can really say otherwise. However... To get their hands on the champions league trophy, as both City and PSG have proven over the last few years, you need more than money (every big club now has plenty of money anyway), you need a character and a belief in your team that you have to earn on the pitch. Neither have done that yet. Maybe one of them will earn it next year who knows, but don't think either are guaranteed European success because of a top signing or two.

    Alex, Yatton

  10. 'City reckon that's a bargain'

    Simon Stone
    BBC Sport

    This is going to be a five-year deal. City are paying what was a release clause from Borussia Dortmund of 60m euros - which is about £51m. They reckon that’s a bargain for a player that they feel is about 200m euros.

    He’s 21 years of age, the youngest player to get to 20 Champions League goals, he’s scored virtually a goal a game for the last three or four years.

    He has impressed in Germany, he’s impressed in the Champions League.

    We saw with Jadon Sancho coming over and playing for Manchester United that the transition from Borussia Dortmund and doing well there does not necessarily equate to doing well in the Premier League.

    But I would have thought that was less likely in Haaland’s case.

    If he doesn’t do very well, Man City have got some decent players and they are doing well without him.

  11. Get Involved

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    Is super-strengthening the best teams in a Free Market good for the game? I've always liked the NFL 1st draft idea, where the weakest team get the first pick. Levels out team successes over time. He should have gone to Bournemouth or Fulham!

    Mike from Elche, Spain

  12. Chris Sutton
    Former Premier League striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

    Erling Haaland has so much potential. Under Pep Guardiola you would think he will develop but will he be the signing that wins City the Champions League?

    It is so timely because it does deflect away from what happened with all that negativity (of losing to Real Madrid in the Champions League) and the announcement brings positivity.

    The expectation will be so great because of what he has achieved so far but we forget he is only 21 and he may take a little while to fit in.

    City dominate the ball and he may take a little bit of time to get used to the way that Pep wants to play but he has all the attributes.

    The guy is an absolute monster physically, people bounce off him. He is a wonderful finisher for such a tall guy, he has great feet, is good in the air and holds it in well and he will get better and better and in that respect I think he is going to the right club with the right coach.

  13. Get Involved

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    Mark: If Haaland continues his meteoric rise at City then they have got a bargain certainly when you compare with Lukaku & Grealish last summer. Yes city are biggest spenders in world but most clubs fans would love to be in that position & flash huge amounts of cash.

  14. Technically Erling Haaland is only Manchester City's 10th most expensive signing. But you'd imagine it will come to quite a lot more once other fees and wages are factored in.

    1. Jack Grealish £100m
    2. Kevin de Bruyne £68m
    3. Ruben Dias £61m
    4. Riyad Mahrez £61m
    5. Joao Cancelo £58.5m
    6. Aymeric Laporte £58.5m
    7. Raheem Sterling £57.3m
    8. Rodri £56.4m
    9. Benjamin Mendy £51.7m
    10. Erling Haaland £51.2m

  15. Get Involved

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    Anyone moaning about City buying the league: it's always been the way that the best financed most successful teams sign the best players. It's pure jealousy because other traditionally successful clubs are now struggling. That said, Haaland is much less expensive than Maguire and Pogba so it isn't just about splashing cash.

    Ian in Manchester

  16. 'Haaland destined to be one of world's best'

    Leeds boss Jesse Marsch has his say on Erling Haaland, who is a fan of the club having been born in Leeds when his father Alf played for them.

    Haaland is 'destined to be one of the best players in the world' - Leeds boss Marsch

  17. Micah Richards
    Former Manchester City defender on BBC Radio 5 Live

    What a player. What a signing Erling Haaland is.

    What a statement to the rest of the teams around. It is the perfect fit. Maybe in terms of style of play he may find it difficult dropping into little positions.

    His link-up play isn’t the best but he can do it. But I don’t think apart from Harry Kane right now there is a better fit. Now they have got a Plan B. Right now for a young player, Manchester City is a great destination for him.

  18. Get Involved

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    One thing is as sure as night follows day, if Liverpool had bought Haaland we wouldn't be seeing sudden negative comments. Haaland was a boyhood City fan, his father played for City. Live with it.

    Anita T

    This isn't about City being frivolous. Yes they do have the cash but so have other clubs. It's about investment in the future of the club and maintaining their status amongst the elite in Europe.

    Anon

    As expected, there are a lot of upset rival fans talking about money, but your clubs spent more than £51m on Fred and Naby Keita respectively.

    Chris Howard

  19. Haaland's meteoric rise and what happens next

    Alex Bysouth
    BBC Sport

    Haaland.

    Erling Haaland's first coach remembers the moment his former prodigy burst into the wider footballing consciousness.

    The forward had been scoring goals for Red Bull Salzburg in Austria but announced himself on the European stage with a superb first-half hat-trick on his Champions League debut against Genk in September 2019.

    "Whoosh!" says Alf Ingve Berntsen, the man who gave Haaland his first senior start for Bryne in the Norwegian second tier aged just 15.

    "That was the trigger for really being a person everyone knows about. Even I, his old coach from the early days, noticed this was something different."

    Read more here.

  20. Get Involved

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    Jack Tanner: City have got a bargain with Haaland (the transfer fee at least) and if Pep is correct in saying most of the country wants Liverpool to win this season's title its mainly because City are going to walk it the next few years.

    Sean: We get Lukaku for £70+ million and City get Haaland for £50+ million. Money back please Inter!

    If Haaland is anything like as good for City as he has been for Dortmund that transfer fee is an absolute coup. Spurs wanted triple for Kane!

    Dan