Former Germany defender Markus Babbel has claimed he would be ‘irritated’ were Erling Haaland to sign for Manchester City this summer.
The Borussia Dortmund striker is hot property as a release clause, worth €75m, is set to activate in his current contract with the Bundesliga side.
That has put all of the top sides in Europe on alert, with them all seeing the striker as a potential bargain signing, given he has managed 80 goals and 21 assists in 81 games since joining Dortmund in January 2020.
Reports over the last few weeks have put Manchester City firmly at the front of the queue for his signature, explaining that they have the finances available to afford what would be a €200m plus deal in transfer fees, agent fees and everything else.
Haaland is also thought to be keen on the move and the prospect of playing under Pep Guardiola at the Etihad, particularly because they do not have an elite level forward on their books at present.
That makes Manchester City a more attractive prospect than the likes of Real Madrid, who already have Karim Benzema and are planning a move for Kylian Mbappe.
For many, the idea of Haaland playing in a team like City’s is an exciting one, but Babbel is not in that group in the slightest.
“This move would really surprise and irritate me. Guardiola doesn’t really like centre forwards,” he told Sky Sports Germany.
“I would rather say that he should stay in Dortmund. He could develop better there because Haaland also has to play. Whether that would be the case with Guardiola, I don’t know.
“In the past, everyone played the centre forward position there, but no trained striker. Even top strikers like Agüero or Jesus didn’t play with regularity at City. I think the striker Guardiola wants has yet to be born.
“In addition, City play in an extremely dominant manner. Haaland still has to learn that, even in such a team that has little space, to play out his dynamism and find the ways to score his goals.”
