Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke admitted in an interview with German magazine Sport Bild on Wednesday that the team cannot afford to compete with Manchester City for Erling Haaland.
However, the German insisted that, so far, no one has signaled a proposal for the 21-year-old striker.
“Currently, we don’t know anything concrete. Neither the player nor anyone else has addressed us yet. However, we cannot compete financially if Manchester City arrive,” Watzke said.
Watzke also added that if the Norwegian star leaves Borussia, the team will look for another young talent to replace his place.
“If Haaland leaves, we will find another new talent and develop a new star and that will do the Bundesliga good too.” Watzke said.
“We have to be careful and try to keep a lot of the stars we still have in the league, which is difficult given the huge financial pressure from England,” he added.
City would become the favourites to sign Haaland, who would become the highest paid player in the Premier League, surpassing the wages of players like Cristiano Ronaldo and De Bruyne.
Haaland has a £63m release clause in his Borussia Dortmund contract. This season he has proven himself as one of the deadliest strikers in world football during his short stint in Germany, scoring 49 goals in 39 games for Edin Terzic’s side.
According to reports, there is confidence at City that the striker will be a player for the team led by Pep Guardiola. And City needs Haaland as they look to replace Sergio Aguero this summer.
The Skyblues are ready to make Haaland the highest-paid player in England. And should they land him, he could earn a salary worth over £500,000 a week, which rounds up to £156 million over a five-year period.
