Erling Haaland to Man City highlights major transfers in Europe

The rumor mill is in full swing with various stars linked to new clubs. However, this report is not about transfer rumors or speculation.

Erling Haaland to Manchester City

We begin with the biggest. It’s been an open secret for a while now that the Norwegian hitman was going to leave Dortmund to head to the blue side of Manchester. It’s finally come to pass.

Haaland has joined Manchester City after successfully completing a medical. The Cityzens activated his 60 million-Euro release clause to facilitate the move. The clause had been widely reported to be around €75 million, but Romana reports that it was €15 million cheaper.

It’s a steal really. The price is much less than Haaland’s €150 million valuation on Transfermakt. It also means that Man City paid much less than the £97.5(€ 114.5) million Chelsea had to shell out to resign Lukaku from Inter Milan.

According to Transfermarkt, in the 2021-2022 season; Haaland has scored 28 goals in 29 appearances in all competitions, while Lukaku has played 42 times, registering 15 goals.

The 21-year-old’s £375,000 per week salary will catapult him to the summit of Man City’s top earners on level terms with talisman, Kevin de Bruyne.

Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid

It’s confirmed. The Chelsea defender will not extend his stay with the Blues after his contract ends on June 30, 2022, but will instead sign a new contract with the 2021–2022 La Liga champions, Real Madrid.

Rudiger, along with Cesar Azplicueta, Andreas Christensen, and Charly Musonda, is among the Chelsea defenders who will be out of contract at the end of the season.

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But it now appears that Rudiger has his future sorted after Romana announced that the 29-year-old German had agreed to a deal that will keep him at the Santiago Bernabeu until 2026.

It’s been reported that a €400 million release clause has been inserted into Rudiger’s contract. However, release clauses are the norm in Spanish football. Ronald Araujo’s recently renewed contract at Barcelona included an audacious €1 billion release clause.

Therefore, should Rudiger decide to leave Real Madrid before 2026, the transfer fee would definitely be lower than the €400 million valuation.

Philippe Coutinho to Aston Villa

Aston Villa have signed Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona on a permanent deal. This puts to bed the Brazilian’s rather tumultuous career since leaving Liverpool.

It took £142 million to prise the little magician out of Anfield, but it’s been reported that it will only take the Birmigham-based club €20 million to bring Coutinho back to England.

The Barcelona move never panned out as planned, with the Brazilian spending the 2019–2020 season on loan at Bayern Munich. However, the Germans never deemed him up to scratch and did not make the stay permanent.

He returned to Barcelona and featured intermittently under Ronald Koeman, only to fall out of favor again when Xavi took over as coach.

When Gerrand was named as Aston Villa manager in January, it was to his former Liverpool teammate that he turned to steady the Villans’ midfield. It’s safe to say that Gerrand has gotten the best out of Coutinho since signing him on loan in January.

The number 10 played 16 times for Villa, scoring four goals and providing three assists in his first eight games for the club.

Karim Adeyemi Joins Borussia Dortmund

The German under-21 international has joined Borussia Dortmund in a five-year deal believed to be worth around €38 million.

The 20-year-old striker previously played for Austrian Bundesliga club RB Salzburg but will return to his native Germany to replace Erling Haaland, who has joined Manchester City.

RB Salzburg has been a selling club of sorts in the last few years. Sadio Mane, Naby Keita, Dayot Upamecano, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Patson Daka just some of the top players sold by Salzburg in recent seasons.

Mane was sold for Mane €23 million, Keita for €29.75 million, Upamecano €18.50 million, Szoboszlai €20 million, and Daka €30 million.

Karim Adeyemi’s transfer might be just another impressive stat on RB Salzburg’s cheque book, but BVB won’t care too much. The German club could be getting a 20-goal-per-season striker at a fraction of the price they sold Haaland.

In the 2021–2022 season, Adeyemi has scored 23 goals in 42 appearances in all competitions so far. Interestingly, Adeyemi was in the Bayern Munich set-up between 2010 and 2012.

It should be remembered that Adeyemi is only 20 years old. There’s a lot of ceiling to get better. Should he replicate the form of his teenage compatriot, Haaland, the Bavarians will be reduced to speculating about what might have been.

In a bizarre twist of events, the Bundesliga could be without a number of its current crop of top scorers in the next season.

Lewandowki’s contract expires in 2023 and he has increasingly been linked to Barcelona, while Patrik Schick is rumoured to be in the crosshairs of Arsenal as they seek to remedy their precarious striker situation.

Serge Gnabry will see his contract with Bayern Munich run out this summer. RB Leipzig’s Christopher Nkuku has been linked to the likes of AC Milan, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Arsenal after an impressive season. Haaland has, of course, joined City.

That’s five players that could potentially be chalked off from the list top 10 scorers, leaving the leaderboard ripe for the picking.

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It’s certainly an interesting time for Adeyemi to be coming back to the Bundesliga.

Bayern Munich Sign Noussair Mazraoui

Highly-rated right-back Noussair Mazraoui has agreed to terms that will see him switch from Amsterdam to Munich.

The transfer could also include Ajax’s 19-year-old midfield prospect, Ryan Gravenberch. The 24-year-old Moroccan has been with Ajax Amsterdam since 2006. He has made 193 appearances, scoring 22 goals.

The transfer comes as a blow to Manchester United. Their new manager, Erik ten Hag was hoping to rope in his former charge at Ajax; but will now be forced to look elsewhere.