Erling Haaland joins Manchester City

Erling Haaland is poised to become a Manchester City player this week after passing a medical and the Premier League champions telling Borussia Dortmund they will activate the 21-year-old’s release clause.

The fee is understood to be significantly less than €75m (£64m) that has been widely reported.

The deal is expected to be announced imminently by the German club, Haaland having informed them of his wish to leave after two-and-a-half years.

Personal terms between the player and City have been agreed. Haaland will earn a basic salary of around £350,000 a week with considerable bonuses and is poised to sign a five-year contract.

For the Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, the deal ends his search for a long-term successor to the club-record goalscorer, Sergio Agüero. Guardiola began the quest for a replacement for the Argentinian last summer when he departed for Barcelona.

At the time the No 1 target was Tottenham’s Harry Kane but City were priced out of any prospective deal by Daniel Levy, the north London club’s chairman, who valued Kane at £150m.

Guardiola’s desire to also acquire Jack Grealish, who cost City a British‑record £100m when he joined from Aston Villa last summer, made the transfer of Kane impossible. This season Guardiola turned his focus to Haaland.

The City manager admires the Norwegian, who has scored 85 goals in 88 appearances for Dortmund, but wanted to make sure he had the ability to suit City’s fluid passing style.