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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has ruled his team out of the race for Borussia Dortmund forward Erling Haaland as a replacement for Sergio Aguero this summer.
Haaland, 20, has become the most wanted player in world soccer, with sources telling ESPN that Dortmund, who will face City in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday, he is prepared to allow the Norwegian international to leave for 180 million euros. this summer, 18 months after signing him for an initial € 20 million.
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Real Madrid and Barcelona spoke with Haaland’s manager and father in Spain on Thursday, and the player is also a target for Manchester United and Chelsea.
But despite the announcement this week that Argentine forward Aguero will leave Etihad this summer at the end of his contract, the City Guardiola manager said the club will not be able to afford Dortmund’s Haaland valuation if he is available this summer.
“With these prices we are not going to buy any striker,” Guardiola said at a press conference on Friday. “It’s impossible, we can’t afford it.
“All clubs struggle economically and we are not the exception. We have Gabriel [Jesus], Ferran [Torres], a lot of players in the academy, and sometimes we play with a false nine. There is a good chance that we will not sign a new striker for next season.
“We have enough players in the first team right now and interesting players in the Academy. It is a great challenge, for the situation in the world, due to the economic problems of world football, we are not going to sign any strikers for next season.”
City will travel to Leicester on Saturday with Aguero ready to be on the team as he prepares to end his Etihad career, 10 years after arriving from Atlético de Madrid.
He will leave as the highest-scoring non-Englishman in Premier League history and Guardiola said Aguero is irreplaceable.
“We know how important it is in the present and in the past, so these decisions are never easy,” Guardiola said. “It is impossible to replace what it means for this club.”
