Jurgen Klopp brutally honest over Liverpool’s prospects of signing Erling Haaland
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has said there is “no chance” the Reds will try to sign Erling Haaland this summer due to the “crazy” price tag.
The Borussia Dortmund striker’s future has been under much discussion over the last 12 months. The 21-year-old, who has blasted 23 goals in 24 games this season, looks likely to be on the move this summer. And a number of big clubs including Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are believed to be interested.
Chelsea tried to land the Norway striker last summer, but pulled out due to the overall cost of the deal. And that cost only looks to have increased with the player’s agent Mino Raiola driving negotiations.
Dortmund still retain some hope of keeping the striker, who is under contract until 2024. But their chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has conceded that a huge contract offer will see them out of the running.
“Erling Haaland? We still know nothing from player’s side,” he told Bild last week. “But we know that we won’t be able to keep up financially if Manchester City come.
“It already happened with [Robert] Lewandowski to Bayern [Munich] and [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang to Arsenal.”
What is clear is that Liverpool will not be one of the teams vying for Haaland due to the staggering cost of a deal which could be north of £300m.
No Haaland release clause
“We won’t be going there,” the former Dortmund boss told SportBild, as cited by Goal. “The numbers involved are just crazy – we’ll be having nothing to do with it. No chance!
“To be honest, I don’t want anything to do with it. It’s not fun.”
Meanwhile, a report by Goal has claimed that there is no official €75m release clause in Haaland’s contract. That was believed to be ready to exercise this summer. But new information suggests the player instead has a gentlemen’s agreement with Dortmund.
Raiola will demand a long contract for his man and he will also want a big agents’ fee too.
The agent of Toni Kroos, Volker Struth spoke to BILD about the true cost of a deal for Haaland in November.
“The entire package with a five-year salary and commission for the agent will probably be around €250m to €300m,” said Struth.
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