Manchester City had spent an initial £51m, which could rise to £85.5m in total to bring Erling Haaland to the Etihad from Borussia Dortmund this summer.
The 22-year Norway international who has since hit the ground running like a duck takes to water has scored an incredible 14 goals across his first eight Premier League matches for City.
Amazingly, Haaland extended his goal-scoring exploit to the Champions League where he has also managed five goals in three games.
Interestingly, the Norwegian is not only scoring high on the pitch but also on his bank account as National Daily learned from the report by Sportsmail that the youngster is by far the highest-paid player in England, with Premier League champions City paying him close to a staggering £900k-a-week due to series of ‘substantial bonuses’ in his current deal.
Meanwhile, City boss Guardiola says there is no release clause in Haaland’s contract, dismissing rumours that Real Madrid are already considering triggering such an agreement.
Reports were abounding that the forward has a release clause of £174m in his City deal, but Guardiola says these claims are false and no such clause exists.
‘It’s not true,’ Guardiola said after the 5-0 thrashing of Copenhagen on Wednesday. ‘He has not got a release clause for Real Madrid, or any other team.
‘Am I annoyed by the rumours? No, absolutely not. Rumours, and people talking, you cannot control it – so always we have to worry about what we can control.
‘The important thing is that he has adapted [since joining City] really well. I have the feeling he is incredibly happy here, and this is the most important thing.’
Haaland became the first player in Premier League history to score hat-tricks in three successive home games following City’s 6-3 win over Manchester United on the weekend.
‘Am I annoyed by the rumours? No, absolutely not. Rumours, and people talking, you cannot control it – so always we have to worry about what we can control.
‘The important thing is that he has adapted [since joining City] really well. I have the feeling he is incredibly happy here, and this is the most important thing.’
Haaland scored his third hat-trick at the Etihad against Man United
Haaland became the first player in Premier League history to score hat-tricks in three successive home games following City’s 6-3 win over Manchester United on the weekend.