The inside story of Erling Haaland to Man City transfer and the help Borussia Dortmund gave

14.09.2022 - 01:00 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Borussia Dortmund banked more than £65m from Manchester City this summer as they reinforced their reputation for excellent recruitment, development and profit-making.

However, they will be received warmly at the Etihad this week for their role in ensuring that Txiki Begiristain managed not just to land the next superstar in world football but do it while turning an enormous profit for City — in an extraordinary summer window that has seen the club generate a Premier League record total in sales. Thanks in no small part to Dortmund and Tottenham, City will line up with £51m striker Erling Haaland against his former club on Wednesday rather than Harry Kane, who remains a Spurs player rather than being the most expensive English transfer.

City cannot escape a reputation for spending heavily and they do not try to, having to pay over the odds after their 2008 takeover to force their way to the top table of English and European football and then continuing to spend hundreds of millions of pounds to improve Pep Guardiola's squad. They spent nearly £120m on recruits this summer to take their total to nearly £650m over the past five years.

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What is commonly wrong about the club's spending, however, is the idea that they have unlimited funds; City may have a bigger budget than most but they must still work to one. And while it was not at the forefront of their hunt for a Sergio Aguero replacement, circumstances have allowed their accounting books to look as impressive as their new No.9.

To understand why City pivoted from Kane to Haaland this summer, it has to be remembered why they pivoted from Haaland to Kane last year. The Norwegian colossus had