Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the City Is Ours daily digest.
Manchester City appear to be the 'hottest candidate' to land Erling Haaland, but Borussia Dortmund aren't going to make things easy.
Newly-minted Newcastle United could be interested in one out-of-favour City star, while Barcelona have come up with some Raheem Sterling alternatives.
Haaland hiccup?
As every man and his dog knows, City are in the market for a striker. After the failure to land Harry Kane in the summer, the name most strongly linked with Pep Guardiola's side is Erling Haaland.
According to German transfer expert Max Bielefeld, "City is the hottest candidate", as hefty wages and agent fees have ruled out the likes of Bayern Munich and City's Premier League rivals from making a move.
However, as reported by Sky Deutschland, Borussia Dortmund aren't going to let City pinch their 21-year-old star without putting up a fight.
The German club current pay the striker €8-9m per year, but are planning to offer an improved contract worth €16-18m with the buyout clause postponed by a season.
Despite that, City will be confident that they can offer Haaland a financial package and football project that Dortmund just cannot match.
Sterling sticking around?
After weeks of intense speculation linking Raheem Sterling with a January move to Barcelona, the latest reports coming out of the Camp Nou indicate that the Catalan giants may be reevaluating their transfer priorities.
According to ESPN, Barca have identified Chelsea attackers Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner as alternative targets, should they not be able to agree terms with City and Sterling.
Barca have stated that they will need to sell before they can buy, but there remains a gap between what the two clubs want from a deal.
City are reportedly reluctant to let Sterling go on loan without a guarantee that Barca will later take the England man on a permanent deal.
If the two parties fail to find a middle ground, then Sterling might have a chance to fight his way back into Guardiola's first-choice XI.
Too poor for Porro
Pedro Porro is a name that may be unfamiliar to many City fans, despite him signing for the club in 2019.
The 22-year-old Spanish right-back joined Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon on a two-year loan deal in 2020, and has certainly impressed his potential long-term suitor.
It was expected that Porro, who City bought for €10m, would sign with Sporting on a permanent basis, but reports from Portuguese newspaper O Jogo suggest that they now cannot afford to do so.
It's a big blow for Sporting, as they were keen to sign the youngster who has made 52 appearances since the start of last season. Regardless, City are unlikely to struggle when it comes to offloading Porro.
His performances this season have sparked interest from other top clubs on the continent, including Real Madrid. In the event that a deal cannot be done with Sporting, then City could allow Porro to go to the highest bidder.
