Manchester City are now off until April 3, when they’ll resume their Premier League campaign with a trip to Leicester City. In the meantime, we’ve got some transfer talk to do so let’s dive right in.
Erling Haaland, Borussia Dortmund’s superlative scoring sensation, has been linked with a move to several of the world’s biggest clubs, including the English trio of Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City.
The Norwergian wunderkid, with a release clause, reportedly of £65million (but many believe his valuation will be over 100 million GBP), has spoken about all the transfer speculation surrounding him.
“I still have three years [on my Dortmund] contract. I am not upset about that,” Haaland said to Dagbladet.
“The media are the ones who write about it, I don’t focus on those things. I think only of myself, to improve my game every day.”
Okay, so that’s basically industry standard boilerplate there, but it doesn’t rule out a move this summer. No one expected Haaland, nor BVB to tip any cards right now on a potential deal anyway.
Moving on to a current player, it appears that Sergio Aguero will be gone from City at the end of this season.
That’s what his teammates believe, as he’s only sub appearances in game, following return from injury. City Xtra, at Fan Nation, has a whole lot more on this development over at this link. As for who could replace Aguero, well we just covered Haaland, but the other main name being linked is Danny Ings.
The Southampton poacher and former Liverpool man is drawing interest from the Etihad, and deservedly so. The English international is hitting his stride at age 28, finishing as joint top scorer in the Premier League last season.
City will be on the hunt for a new centre-forward this summer and Ings might fit the sweet spot of elite talent and reasonable price.
As Sky Sports reports: “His contract situation at St Mary’s also puts City in a strong position; he is about to enter the final year of his deal and has so far not agreed to sign new terms that have been on offer for some time.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.