Manchester City are set to land both Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez for less than Liverpool could eventually pay for Darwin Nunez.
The Premier League champions officially announced the arrival of striker Haaland in a £51million deal, while Alvarez will follow for £14m after a deal was struck in January.
That combined fee of £65m will be eclipsed by Nunez who will head to Anfield for £64m with add-ons possibly taking the fee as high as £85.4m.
It’s incredible business from Pep Guardiola’s men who are signing one of Europe’s finest strikers and a South American starlet.
And former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan praised the transfer.
He said on White and Jordan: “You’re buying someone here that is, in the here and now, at the very top of their game.
“Now, we can run the argument that the Bundesliga is not, perhaps, as competitive as the Premier League.
“But, not withstanding that, if you score a goal a game in any league you are some kind of player and the Bundesliga is a top league.
“City have bought something they, arguably, have been missing for some time, a central focus for some of their beautiful play and that may be the certain thing that was lacking at times, albeit what was lacking last year was very little. The margins were so small in terms of what they lacked.
“I think you have got someone that has been bought on a price, because his late agent [Mino Raiola] put a situation in place that got him out of a German club at what is looked at as a discounted price because of the parameters he could have gone for when he was without the clause for release.
“I’ll be fascinated to see how good this boy is because we’ve seen it before with Timo Werner coming over with a huge reputation having scored goals in German football and he hasn’t done that [here].
“I don’t think this boy will fall into that trap but there is going to be a lot of expectation and a lot of anticipation and those two things will come together and produce a player that will either meet or disappoint them.
“I think he will meet them. I think he will score a lot of goals because he is playing in a side that will create chances.”
Jordan, though, was at pains to explain the differences between Man City’s deal for Haaland and Liverpool’s imminent signing of Nunez.
He added: “I dont think [the Nunez deal] is a statement in reaction to Manchester City. It’s the cost implications of doing business.
“Mane looks like he’s going to go so you needed a replacement.
“What ever Liverpool sell him for will be straight profit. He’s run down his contract with a year to go. Whatever they bought him for from Southampton, when they sell him for £40m or £35m, that will be all profit.
“With this new boy coming in, they put him on a six-year contract, they pay £65m for him, plus add-ons that will be based on some level of performance, it’s probably a half-sensible deal.
“The beauty of the Haaland deal, [Nunez] was a free market deal, the Haaland deal wasn’t a free market deal because there was a release clause.
“It was no great mercurial bit of business from anyone. Man City had the inside track with him for a variety of different reasons. Man City are probably able to meet the salary expectations that most clubs won’t be able to. There is a relationship between the father and the club but Man City have nicked him by comparison.
“At £51m, in today’s market, Haaland is a snip. But he’s not a free market transaction. Nunez is a free market transaction so Liverpool have to pay the going price.”
Source: Talk Sport