Paris Saint-Germain are planning an astonishing £175m for Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, it has been reported.
The French giants saw their campaign left in tatters during the week as they were knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich.
Arousing fresh questions and doubts over the entire project, PSG’s elimination has sparked fresh questions about whether the Qatari takeover can, so far, be considered a success.
With the Holy Grail of the Champions League trophy remaining ever elusive, it seems Europe’s most prolific goalscorer has been earmarked as the answer to their problems.
According to French reporter Daniel Riolo, the Parisian club are exploring the options of pairing Haaland with Kylian Mbappe.
Haaland is enjoying a remarkable season in a City shirt, having scored 28 times in the Premier League alone.
It has been suggested that Neymar and Lionel Messi, 31 and 35 respectively, could be moved on this summer, which would open up space on the club’s already-burgeoning wage bill for the Norwegian.
A new story could be built at the club around the two players widely considered to the continent’s foremost players of the current generation.
With Christophe Galtier seemingly facing the same fate as so many PSG bosses of the last decade or so having failed to claim the club’s maiden Champions League triumph, it has also been reported Zinedine Zidane could step into the hotset.
Rumours of Zidane taking over at the Parc des Princes have been in circulation for some years, though the former France international has remained tight-lipped over whether or not it is a job that intrigues him. Zidane is from Marseille – PSG’s great rivals.
Whether or not it is an attractive proposition to Haaland remains to be seen, though it is telling in recent weeks that there have been noises suggesting the Norwegian might not remain in the north west of England for much longer.
Rafaela Pimenta, Haaland’s agent, spoke to a conference last month in which she detailed how Spanish clubs were often the dream for a palyer.
The Brazilian lawyer who took over as Haaland’s lead agent after the death of Mino Raiola last year, also stated that she likes to map out players careers. Confirming that Haaland was keen to move to City and work with Pep Guardiola, and that the Premier League is now an attraction on it’s own rather than the clubs that compete in it.
‘In my agency we try to make a plan. We have to make a plan,’ Pimenta told the Financial Times’ Business of Football summit in London.
‘We need to have a goal. Maybe we won’t achieve it but if don’t know where we’re going for sure we don’t get there.
‘When we have a player, we make plans. Even if the player is 15 years old. We are planning out his career trajectory.
‘When I started in this business, if I would say to a player “I’ll bring you to England” the first thing they would say would be “what did I do wrong? Why don’t you like me?”
‘But now, if I ask a player “what is your goal?” he will say the Premier League. He doesn’t say City, Chelsea or Arsenal but the Premier League.’
Haaland scored the only goal on Saturday evening as City beat Crystal Palace 1-0 to close the gap on leaders Arsenal to two points.
Source: dailymail.co.uk
