Any club hoping to land Borussia Dortmund forward Erling Haaland next summer will have to offer a £30million-a-year contract.
ESPN believe the 21-year-old’s representatives have made his suitors aware of the funds required to make a deal happen at the end of the season.
The rumoured recent activation of a £68m release clause in his current agreement means a departure from Signal Iduna Park appears extremely likely.
It is now a case of Europe’s top clubs making their position in the transfer saga known to both Dortmund and Haaland.
Real Madrid will be the first to drop out of the race to sign the Norwegian scoring sensation, according to Spanish outlet AS.
ALSO READ: Lukaku and Werner: Race is on to replace injured Chelsea duo – Tuchel
They report that Real’s burning desire to land Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe, coupled with severe financial restrictions, will see them admit defeat.
Manchester City, PSG and Bayern Munich are widely considered to be the current frontrunners — though Chelsea and Manchester United are also still in the frame.
Money is certainly no object for City or the French giants, with the Premier League champions’ prospects also boosted by a three-year spell Haaland’s father Alf-Inge spent playing for the club between 2000 and 2003.
But the lure of lining up alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar could prove pivotal, with Les Parisiens thought to view the marksman as an ideal purchase to compensate for the seemingly inevitable loss of Mbappe.
Bayern, meanwhile, know all about Haaland from his Bundesliga exploits and would jump at the chance to sign him given talismanic forward Robert Lewandowski’s advancing years.