Man City: Haaland ‘expresses’ exit ‘desire’ to Euro giants; Arsenal blow ‘triggered’ amid £83m ‘priority’

Lewis Oldham
Man City striker Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland has been linked with PSG, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

According to reports, Manchester City forward Erling Haaland has ‘expressed to his entourage’ that he has a ‘clear desire’ to join one European giant.

The 24-year-old joined Man City from Bundesliga outfit Borussia Dortmund during the 2022 summer transfer window for around £51m.

Following his move to the Etihad, Haaland has established himself as one of, if not the best, strikers in the world at the moment.

The prolific goalscorer is without a goal in three Premier League games, but he scored a brace in Man City’s 5-0 win against Sparta Prague on Wednesday night.

The 24-year-old has not scored 103 goals in his 110 appearances for the Premier League side across all competitions. He’s just ridiculous. 

The Man City star is under contract until 2027, but with 115 FFP charges hanging over their heads, he has been heavily linked with an exit in recent months.

FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and PSG have been mooted as potential destinations amid claims he has already ‘rejected’ one offer to leave.

A report from Belgian journalist Sacha Tavolieri claims Haaland is ‘attracting the attention’ of Real Madrid and he’s ‘already expressed to his entourage the clear desire’ to sign for them ‘in the near future’.

READ: Premier League ‘Big Eight’ ranked by injury woes; Rodri ACL puts Man City above Newcastle, Spurs

The report claims.

‘Real Madrid president Florentino Perez would like to make the Citizen striker his new star from the 2025-2026 season.

‘To do this, Haaland and his agent Rafaela Pimenta have made life easier for the Spanish leaders since he has a release clause valued at 150 million euros attached to his contract.

‘Attracted by the Madrid project, Haaland has already expressed to his entourage the clear desire to become a Real Madrid player in the near future.’

The report also claims Man City have picked Haaland’s replacement as Sporting Lisbon star Viktor Gyokeres is their ‘priority’ target. This is a blow for Arsenal as the forward is one of Mikel Arteta’s preferred options.

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It is also suggested that Man City how much they will have to pay to sign Gyokeres next year. The report adds.

‘Already in contact with his entourage, Hugo Viana has made the Swedish striker a priority and wants to build the backbone of his Manchester City project around him.

‘However, the president of Sporting Portugal – Frederico Varandas – has been clear internally. No gifts will be made to Hugo Viana after his departure to the English champions and they will have to pay as much if not more than the sum requested, that is to say 100 million euros (around £83m), to sign the one who is already called the “new Haaland”.

‘At this moment, the future of the Norwegian giant could therefore trigger an extremely important game of dominoes on the transfer market.’