Dr Dan Plumley

Mon 24 October 2022 13:02, UK

Erling Haaland will likely break the transfer fee world record when he leaves Man City – but £1billion is a stretch.

That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the “bold” remarks made by the Norwegian superstar’s agent, Rafaela Pimenta.

As quoted by Sky Sports last Saturday (22 October), Pimenta claimed that Haaland’s footballing ability, image rights and value to sponsors will mean he can be worth £1bn in the future.

City paid £51million for the centre-forward in the summer, around a quarter of the world-record sum Paris Saint-Germain paid for Neymar in 2017.

Haaland has since scored 22 in 15 appearances and is inarguably one of the world’s greatest players.

But Pimenta’s valuation is still probably not realistic, suggests Plumley.

“It’s bold as a claim,” the Sheffield Hallam University expert told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.

“Of course, it’s loaded as well because it’s come from the player’s agent. If you look at the way it’s pitched, the headline is the £1bn figure but the agent is also talking about transfer fees, sponsors, image rights, and on-the-pitch stuff.

“All that is quite subjective in a way because you have to go out and get it. So, all we see is the transfer fee. At the moment, the benchmark is still the Neymar deal.

“You would imagine he has a silly release clause. We have seen some figures that are at least £200m.

“If the move is to happen, and it probably will at some point because it sounds like he’s got grander plans, we will see a big transfer fee and wage package. Whether or not you can stretch that that get £1bn is still unknown, for me.

“Is he in the top two or three players in the world at the moment in terms of transfer value? Yes. There is probably only him and Mbappe in that bracket.

“I think £1bn is a stretch, but you can see why the agent is trying to talk him up.“

In other news, Jurgen Klopp labelled “jealous” by pundit as Man City boss Pep Guardiola speaks out.