Erling Haaland

[Deleted member 87819]

Let’s face it, it’s never been about whether we can afford the figures that have always been banded about for Haaland. We can. It’s just about whether we go against our whole (seemingly) transfer policy and pay it.

Hopefully the club see the value and how perfect the signing is from all angles (City fan, world class, young, we need a striker so he’s guaranteed to walk into the team, release clause etc) and just pay up. His wage demands and agent fees were always going to be high.

The fact we probably knew all this last Summer yet seem to be back in for his this Summer is a promising sign.

I’m sorry but this is where I am disagreeing in the post above. If we sign him at 500k, we are not breaking any transfer policy, we are just keeping with our policy. The reports around the Lukaku signing also said Chelsea were “smashing their wage structure” etc. Bullshit. If you pay Kante 290k, Lukaku will cost 450k. If you pay KdB 400k, Haaland will cost between 450k-600k. If United didn’t pay De Gea what they pay, maybe Ronaldo wouldn’t have cost them what he costs. Etc etc. Or people missed the boat in commenting that when Grealish walked in the door being our second best paid player, we were already “breaking our transfer policy” — which, again, we were not.

 

[khoitnm]

No my friend, “all of them” meant the ones being mentioned before in the post.
Foden at 150k is not low. Let’s clarify this, because someone earlier was playing this game “oh if Haaland is going to cost this, then Foden should be receiving much more”. Let’s take Chelsea again for a comparison, because I started by comparing their situation in signing Lukaku to what would be ours signing Haaland. The player you can compare Foden to in the Chelsea squad, everyone would agree, is Mason Mount. Well, for starters, Mount has one million more Instagram followers than Foden. His wage at Chelsea right now is under 90k per week. Foden will be making almost double what Mount makes. We all love Foden and for us he is a star, but the reality is, he is one of our most important squad players, but still a squad player. He is not a superstar no matter how proud we are of him. Then you can take Kante, who we can agree in terms of contribution to Chelsea over the years and his position etc, is comparable to KdB in our squad. KdB is making 400k, whereas Kante makes 290k (he was their best paid player until Lukaku). Do you see a pattern? We pay our players better comparatively. Chelsea last summer signed Lukaku to be the guy who will score more goals than anyone in their squad clearly. Like us now, they did not use to have a player incumbent to holding that responsibility. He walked in earning 450k. When/if we sign Haaland, his place in the squad will also to be by far our top goalscorer BUT also our global face. If he gets here making 500k, or whether we arrange a different “smart” package, what we will be doing is the same as Chelsea relatively. And as a reminder, Sam Smith reported not long ago that our offer for Messi the previous summer would make him earn more than what he is earning now at PSG. We are one of the richest clubs in the world and act like it, whether some of our fans want to admit or not

So you mean that market is just for people being mentioned in the previous post, but not for our current player. Well, in the working environment, I'll be stupid if I accept that kind of market definition from my managers when negotiating my salary.

So I think we should leave it there; actually it's kind of pointless for me (as a fan) to debate about market definition here. The club is the one who decide after all, I hope they decide well as they have done in the last 10 years or so.

 

[Deleted member 87819]

So you mean that market is just for people being mentioned in the previous post, but not for our current player. Well, in the working environment, I'll be stupid if I accept that kind of market definition from my managers when negotiating my salary.

I am not sure you read my post. I compared Foden to Mount to show you that compared to a player of his kind, he gets well paid. Also mentioned KdB and Kante. Again, you can compare most of our players to what players at United, Chelsea and Liverpool make, and you will struggle to find one of our players that compared to a similar in a different club, makes much less. Of course De Gea is an aberration as he makes so much, but compare Ederson to Allison (Ederson makes only slightly less, even though Allison is by far a more important player in the Liverpool squad) or Ederson to Edouard Mendy (Ederson makes a lot more). Ruben Dias now makes not much less than Maguire or even Van Djik and more than Thiago Silva. Etc etc etc. And if you bring Haaland, his wages will be in the bracket of a Ronaldo or Lukaku. This isn’t Raiola making this decision, it’s the market (I stuck to the PL market in this post but it works the same in European terms). That’s what I am trying to communicate, hope a little more clearly now. Cheers

 

[khoitnm]

I am not sure you read my post. I compared Foden to Mount to show you that compared to a player of his kind, he gets well paid. Also mentioned KdB and Kante. Again, you can compare most of our players to what players at United, Chelsea and Liverpool make, and you will struggle to find one of our players that compared to a similar in a different club, makes much less. Of course De Gea is an aberration as he makes so much, but compare Ederson to Allison (Ederson makes only slightly less, even though Allison is by far a more important player in the Liverpool squad) or Ederson to Edouard Mendy (Ederson makes a lot more). Ruben Dias now makes not much less than Maguire or even Van Djik and more than Thiago Silva. Etc etc etc. And if you bring Haaland, his wages will be in the bracket of a Ronaldo or Lukaku. This isn’t Raiola making this decision, it’s the market (I stuck to the PL market in this post but it works the same in European terms). That’s what I am trying to communicate, hope a little more clearly now. Cheers

Thank you Gus for your response. And you do have some good points, I just think it's no need for us to spend more energy and time in this discussion as mentioned earlier. Really appreciate the way you reply, have a lovely day, mates!

 

[Deleted member 87819]

The 3:50 mark:

 

[skillman]

I’m sorry but this is where I am disagreeing in the post above. If we sign him at 500k, we are not breaking any transfer policy, we are just keeping with our policy. The reports around the Lukaku signing also said Chelsea were “smashing their wage structure” etc. Bullshit. If you pay Kante 290k, Lukaku will cost 450k. If you pay KdB 400k, Haaland will cost between 450k-600k. If United didn’t pay De Gea what they pay, maybe Ronaldo wouldn’t have cost them what he costs. Etc etc. Or people missed the boat in commenting that when Grealish walked in the door being our second best paid player, we were already “breaking our transfer policy” — which, again, we were not.

Why should Haaland automatically, without any form of debate, demand more than De Bruyne? A legend at the club and one of the best in the world for a number of years already. The club have rewarded him for that, not sure that Haaland can just walk in on that money after 2 years in the Bundesliga (which, contrary to other fans, I don’t think is a shit league). We’ve walked away from deals like Sanchez for demanding more than what we think he’s worth.

Ignoring wages, we’ve apparently walked away from transfers because of agent fees too and Mino won’t be doing it on the cheap.

Like I said, if we do go in for him then it’s likely we know the figures involved and are comfortable enough with them. We’ll see.

 

[Deleted member 87819]

Why should Haaland automatically, without any form of debate, demand more than De Bruyne? A legend at the club and one of the best in the world for a number of years already. The club have rewarded him for that, not sure that Haaland can just walk in on that money after 2 years in the Bundesliga (which, contrary to other fans, I don’t think is a shit league). We’ve walked away from deals like Sanchez for demanding more than what we think he’s worth.

Ignoring wages, we’ve apparently walked away from transfers because of agent fees too and Mino won’t be doing it on the cheap.

Like I said, if we do go in for him then it’s likely we know the figures involved and are comfortable enough with them. We’ll see.

He isn’t “demanding”, that is the price the market has set. It’s not an isolated deal, it’s a price set by the context of other players, other deals etc. What I have tried to explain by quoting the Lukaku situation is showing that this happens. You had Kante as their player receiving the most there at Chelsea, the things you can say about him you could say about Kevin as well, but when the player who is supposed to score the most goals for them arrives, he will be receiving the most. Like I said previously, and unlike what some think, this isn’t Raiola making a crazy demand out of the blue; any other agent would be asking the same.

Right now at Real Madrid, Bale earns the biggest wage there, but his contract expires at the end of this season. So after this current season, the best paid player in their squad will be Eden Hazard who earns literally the same money KdB makes at our club. Mbappe, who everyone knows will go there next season, will certainly arrive there being their best paid player at 23. It’s the same situation. These things work like this everywhere.

I don’t understand why people here seem to believe there is an unspoken rule that Kevin will always be our highest earner. He already makes a lot of money, more than he would be making at most top clubs for the same contribution. However it is a nature of the game that he doesn’t score more goals than any of our other player nor decides most matches. So there will be a limitation to what he will earn — though quite a limitation, let’s agree. This is, again, the market speaking. We would have paid Messi more than we pay Kevin for a reason.

Sanchez was 29 when the debacle happened, was never a superstar, frankly was never that great of a player if I’m being honest and had an amateur agent. Clubs know how much Haaland will cost; no one is getting involved to haggle, like you acknowledged. It’s a different scenario altogether

 

[skillman]

He isn’t “demanding”, that is the price the market has set. It’s not an isolated deal, it’s a price set by the context of other players, other deals etc. What I have tried to explain by quoting the Lukaku situation is showing that this happens. You had Kante as their player receiving the most there at Chelsea, the things you can say about him you could say about Kevin as well, but when the player who is supposed to score the most goals for them arrives, he will be receiving the most. Like I said previously, and unlike what some think, this isn’t Raiola making a crazy demand out of the blue; any other agent would be asking the same.

Right now at Real Madrid, Bale earns the biggest wage there, but his contract expires at the end of this season. So after this current season, the best paid player in their squad will be Eden Hazard who earns literally the same money KdB makes at our club. Mbappe, who everyone knows will go there next season, will certainly arrive there being their best paid player at 23. It’s the same situation. These things work like this everywhere.

I don’t understand why people here seem to believe there is an unspoken rule that Kevin will always be our highest earner. He already makes a lot of money, more than he would be making at most top clubs for the same contribution. However it is a nature of the game that he doesn’t score more goals than any of our other player nor decides most matches. So there will be a limitation to what he will earn — though quite a limitation, let’s agree. This is, again, the market speaking. We would have paid Messi more than we pay Kevin for a reason.

Sanchez was 29 when the debacle happened, was never a superstar, frankly was never that great of a player if I’m being honest and had an amateur agent. Clubs know how much Haaland will cost; no one is getting involved to haggle, like you acknowledged. It’s a different scenario altogether

KDB isn’t on a pittance and rightly so. He’s a superstar and has been consistently for years now. To insinuate we’re overpaying him compared to what he’d get at other clubs is a bit of an odd one given we’re seeing Barca falling out their arse for paying average players astronomical wages and that’s just one club example. Sanchez again for £500k a week at Utd, De Gea on what he’s on, Pogba on obscene amounts, Bale for little contribution at Real, same with Hazard etc.

Let’s not forget KDB has just signed a new contract on this ceiling of a wage despite being better by a long distance than all the above players who had their own high wages beforehand. He knew the market. We did too yet he’s still on lower. Because of the structure. That goes against the market that supposedly automatically allows Haaland to have £500k.

I agree that Haaland will get a high wage because the market is demanding it and he’s a striker, he’ll get paid top dollar for being that, but to say he isn’t breaking a financial structure we’ve set since Txiki/Soriano came in is a bit naive. Especially if it’s above our top earner, KDB. The fact that’s KDB is irrelevant, it’s a comparison against our highest earner, not the player.

Txiki and Soriano are known for wages being ‘low’ but with ‘easily got’ reward-based bonuses which bring it up ultimately. To bring in a player on supposedly £500k a week would absolutely be going against their grain.

I’ll say it again, if we are in for him as reports suggest then all this is irrelevant because the club will be comfortable with the figures but on the face of it - with nothing concrete other than rumours - it’s an odd one in my opinion how easily some see £500k a week would be when we’ve spent years dodging massive wages. It’s exactly why whenever wages come up for Haaland, we’re debating Puma’s involvement and some money being offset through them.

 

[Deleted member 87819]

To insinuate we’re overpaying him compared to what he’d get at other clubs

Read again, that’s not what I said. I think he would be earning the same at Madrid, PSG and United — but that’s about it.

The fact that’s KDB is irrelevant, it’s a comparison against our highest earner, not the player.

So just out of curiosity, would you say we would have “broken a financial structure” like you said if we had signed Messi two summers ago like we wanted (or even this past summer)? I don’t think you are breaking financial structure if, like Tolm has demonstrated, you have already freed up enough through off-loading players; it’s smartly relocating.

it’s an odd one in my opinion how easily some see £500k a week would be when we’ve spent years dodging massive wages.

Again, I can’t agree with this when we are paying 400k for a midfielder. We pay KdB more than Bayern pays Lewandowski. We welcomed Grealish giving him our second highest wages. The reason we don’t pay what PSG pays for Neymar and Messi for instance is not because we don’t want to pay that, but because we don’t have those players in the squad. The Sanchez example for me doesn’t work because ultimately it was clear the situation was verging on ridiculous.

I do agree with you that it’s possible we involve Puma and “creative solutions” to get this done and it could maybe mean him arriving with a public announcement that he would be making same or just a little over KdB whereas in reality we know it would be more.

 

[supercity88]

He isn’t “demanding”, that is the price the market has set. It’s not an isolated deal, it’s a price set by the context of other players, other deals etc. What I have tried to explain by quoting the Lukaku situation is showing that this happens. You had Kante as their player receiving the most there at Chelsea, the things you can say about him you could say about Kevin as well, but when the player who is supposed to score the most goals for them arrives, he will be receiving the most. Like I said previously, and unlike what some think, this isn’t Raiola making a crazy demand out of the blue; any other agent would be asking the same.

Right now at Real Madrid, Bale earns the biggest wage there, but his contract expires at the end of this season. So after this current season, the best paid player in their squad will be Eden Hazard who earns literally the same money KdB makes at our club. Mbappe, who everyone knows will go there next season, will certainly arrive there being their best paid player at 23. It’s the same situation. These things work like this everywhere.

I don’t understand why people here seem to believe there is an unspoken rule that Kevin will always be our highest earner. He already makes a lot of money, more than he would be making at most top clubs for the same contribution. However it is a nature of the game that he doesn’t score more goals than any of our other player nor decides most matches. So there will be a limitation to what he will earn — though quite a limitation, let’s agree. This is, again, the market speaking. We would have paid Messi more than we pay Kevin for a reason.

Sanchez was 29 when the debacle happened, was never a superstar, frankly was never that great of a player if I’m being honest and had an amateur agent. Clubs know how much Haaland will cost; no one is getting involved to haggle, like you acknowledged. It’s a different scenario altogether

The club, for squad harmony, will probably want to reduce Haaland's wage expectations even if he gets a lump instead to make up for it. Regardless of the market the club rewards loyalty and consistency and bringing in someone on way more than existing players is not going to go down well regardless of their reputation.

Giving him a lump to compensate is a better way of going about it. But let's see. The rumour mill is churning on this, but I would be surprised if City got this done...we just don't seem to make this sort of signing. I hope in this case the club changes that because he is the final piece.