Rio Ferdinand makes Erling Haaland point in Omar Marmoush Man City transfer verdict

Rio Ferdinand believes Manchester City's biggest achievement of the January window has been tying Erling Haaland down to a new long-term contract.

Last week, the Blues announced Haaland inked a staggering nine-and-a-half-year extension with City, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2034. The lucrative deal will make him one of the highest earners in world football, with rumours his salary could now be £500,000-per-week.

In addition to that, City have also bolstered their defensive options signing Vitor Reis from Palmeiras and Abdukodir Khusanov from Lens. The club will soon complete a deal for Omar Marmoush after previously failing to replace Julian Alvarez, who left for Atletico Madrid last summer.

Speaking to TNT Sports ahead of City's Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain, Ferdinand offered his view on City's transfer dealings, highlighting: "I think their biggest signing of the window is [Erling] Haaland signing for City for that amount of years.

"There will be a lot of defenders, a lot of teams thinking 'ah thought Real Madrid would come and take him at some point and get out of our hair' but I think he's a huge signing, it's a huge statement of intent for Man City and that should instil a lot of confident within that squad."

On Marmoush, Ferdinand added: "I think they need another body up there [after not replacing Julian Alvarez]. You need to give sometime on the bench or out of the game sometimes to recuperate, for Haaland, it can't all just rest on his shoulders and Alvarez will be a great understudy.

"His job is to come in and change his approach now. He's started in every game, the only difference is he is always up there with a partner which he isn't going to have when he plays for City