Erling Haaland could be first £1 billion player – agent Rafaela Pimenta

Erling Haaland’s agent has claimed the Manchester City striker could become the world’s first £1 billion player.

Haaland has made a fine start to his City career since signing from Borussia Dortmund for his release clause, which sources told ESPN was worth €60 million.

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The 22-year-old has scored 20 goals in 14 appearances across all competitions for City this campaign, which has led his representative Rafaela Pimenta to say he could break the £1 billion barrier for a signing.

“If you put together his football value, his image value, his sponsor value, it is for sure £1 billion,” Pimenta said when talking about the transfer fee Haaland could be signed for in an interview with Sky Sports.

“It’s normal to compare Erling with [Kylian] Mbappe, so you have a little bit of an idea of the market — I think Erling would be the first player to achieve a transfer that would be around £1 billion.”

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Earlier this month City manager Pep Guardiola rejected reports that Haaland had a clause in his contract which would allow him to join Real Madrid for a lower fee after the 2023-24 season.

“The good and bad of being a lawyer is that you know what you cannot say,” Pimenta said in response to a question about those reports. “You don’t need somebody poking you like, ‘Don’t say this, don’t say that.’ I cannot talk about it.”

Pimenta was also asked whether discussions would take place soon over a new contract for the Norway international at the Etihad Stadium.

“I hope so,” Pimenta said. “If they want to discuss today, we’d be happy. Why not? Always good.”