Manchester City are expected to complete the signing of Erling Haaland without a long and contentious battle for the superstar striker.
City are one of a number of top European clubs to have been putting serious effort into signing Haaland for more than a year, and emerged this season as one of the final two options for the player alongside Real Madrid; despite hoovering up the best Bundesliga talent as part of their domination of the league, Bayern Munich have made it plain the player will not be moving there.
The Blues worked their way into pole position and are close to what would be one of the biggest deals in the club's history. What's more, with Dortmund and themselves preferring to conduct business early in the summer, the sensational transfer is set to be concluded without dragging through the summer.
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The fact that official confirmation of the move is expected soon — even if it does not end up being of a finalised transfer — will thrill City fans, who have watched the 21-year-old smash in goals at the highest level while Pep Guardiola's team have had to adapt without a centre-forward for the past two years.
And the timing will also please Guardiola, sporting director Txiki Begiristain and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak as it means they can avoid the frustration of most summers at the Etihad where it has taken many hours and manpower to get deals for top targets over the line — often without success — and finally secure their replacement for club record scorer Sergio Aguero.
City can then turn more attention to the other business that needs attention in the transfer window, including a replacement for Fernandinho and the decisions to be made on Raheem Sterling, Ilkay Gundogan, Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez ahead of their contracts expiring in 2023.
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