Erling Haaland set to join Manchester City after passing medical

Erling Haaland is poised to become a Manchester City player this week after passing a medical and the Premier League champions telling Borussia Dortmund they will activate the 21-year-old’s €75m (£64m) release clause.

The deal is expected to be announced imminently by the German club, Haaland having informed them of his wish to leave after two-and-a-half years in Germany. Personal terms between the player and City have been agreed. Haaland will earn a basic salary of around £350,000 a week with considerable bonuses and is poised to sign a five-year contract.

For the Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, the deal ends his search for a long-term successor to the club-record goalscorer, Sergio Agüero. Guardiola began his quest to replace the Argentinian last summer when he departed for Barcelona. At the time the No 1 target was Tottenham’s Harry Kane but City were priced out of any prospective deal by Daniel Levy, the north London club’s chairman, who valued Kane at £150m.

Guardiola’s desire to also acquire Jack Grealish, who cost a British-record £100m when he joined from Aston Villa last summer, made the transfer of Kane impossible. This season Guardiola turned his focus to Haaland. The City manager admires the Norwegian, who has scored 85 goals in 88 appearances for Dortmund, but wanted to make sure he had the ability to suit City’s fluid passing style.

When Real Madrid, who had been Haaland’s first-choice destination, decided to make Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappé their prime summer target, it cleared the way for City to firm up their interest in Haaland after Guardiola gave the move the green light.

This season City have played the majority of their matches with a “false No 9”. This has usually been of one of