Man City prolific forward line raises questions over £246m Erling Haaland transfer gamble

17.04.2022 - 10:31 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Manchester City’s summer pursuit of Harry Kane is well documented, as Pep Guardiola identified the Tottenham talisman as his preferred striking target and sought to acquire his services for the best part of three months. City began the season with Gabriel Jesus as their only recognised centre-forward, and Guardiola prefers to play the Brazilian on the wing.

Now, all sorts of names are being linked with City for this summer, and Erling Haaland is another name who has been mentioned. According to reports, Haaland's release clause is £63million but agent Mino Raiola will demand around £58m to negotiate the transfer which will include wages of £25m per season over five years - totalling £125m.

Despite criticism for not replacing all-time top goalscorer Sergio Aguero, over the past two seasons City have shown they can cope without a classic no.9. Last season City won the Premier League title by a huge 12-point margin, scoring the most goals of any team with a tally of 83 while Aguero was injured for most of the campaign.

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But once he returned to fitness, Aguero wasn’t always Guardiola’s first choice to lead the line, with the Spaniard opting to maintain faith with his system and deploy Phil Foden, Ferran Torres or even Kevin De Bruyne in the striker position. This season has seen a continuation of that tactic, as Foden, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez have shared the goalscoring burden.

City have scored 72 goals so far in the Premier League this season, and with seven games left to play, there is every chance Guardiola’s side could eclipse last season’s tally. Foden seems to be the