NO MESSI ABOUT IN PURSUIT OF ERLING
anywhere near the £600,000a-week wage that agent Mino Raiola is reported to be demanding.
City are so determined to bring 20-year-old Haaland to the Premier League that a source at the club revealed they are “not actively pursuing” Barca superstar Messi.
The Argentine tried to walk out of the Nou Camp last summer to link-up again with Guardiola (below) at the Etihad following a contract wrangle.
And although the Catalan giants were able to block his departure, the expectation was that the 33-year-old would join City ahead of next season.
It seems signing Messi is no longer viable given the finances involved – and the belief that Haaland could lead City’s attack for the next decade and beyond.
The club, closing in on a third Premier League title in four years, are prepared to use the sell-on clause they had inserted into the deal that took Jadon Sancho to Dortmund as a £16m bargaining chip in any bidding war with Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
When Sancho joined the Bundesliga club for £8m in 2017, the included a 15 per cent sell-on clause.
Dortmund valued the 21-yearold at £108m when United were interested last summer – and that would have seen the Blues bank more than £16m.
City could offer to waive that payment – but still believe the German club will have to further reduce Haaland’s asking price in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.
City are also not prepared to shatter their wage structure.
Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne are the club’s highest earners on £300,000 a week.
There is a clause in Haaland’s contract which enables the Norwegian to move for £68m next year – so the clock is ticking on Dortmund’s attempt to get maximum value for the player.
City have other options – Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Inter Milan pair Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez – but all of them would cost in excess of £100m.