Borussia Dortmund chief 'passed out' when he saw Erling Haaland-Man City transfer details

Manchester City appear to be closing in on the signing of Erling Haaland with Borussia Dortmund advisor Matthias Sammer revealing he ‘passed out’ when he saw the transfer figures involved in the deal.

The Norwegian striker – who has netted 16 goals in 15 Bundesliga appearances this season – is on the wish-list of most of the biggest clubs in Europe, with Real Madrid long interested in signing him and Manchester United also keen.

Barcelona boss Xavi was even rumoured to have flown to Germany earlier this month to meet with Haaland in Munich, where he had been recovering from an injury.

But Premier League champions Manchester City may have stolen a march on their rivals and could even announce an agreement for Haaland by the end of next month.

Pep Guardiola’s side are believed to have an agreement in place already and, according to German newspaper Bild, they will need to activate the release clause in Haaland’s contract – which is worth around £63million – by April 30.

Now Sammer, who worked with Guardiola at Bayern and now has an advisory position at Dortmund, has fuelled the speculation by claiming he has already seen the transfer figures being discussed – though a deal is not complete yet.

When fellow Amazon Prime Video pundit Mario Gomez said he was ‘excited’ to see how Haaland will perform under Guardiola, Sammer replied: ‘They will both benefit from each other.

‘Because Pep, of course – I was able to experience him for three years – has a certain idea. I can also imagine dealing with a centre-forward, no question. But he will also have to learn from the centre-forward.’

Asked if the deal is already done, Sammer continued: ‘I don’t know. I was fully focused on this match [Manchester United v Atletico Madrid].

‘I