Erling Haaland’s agent explains release clause in Man City contract and makes ‘freedom’ claim

Erling Haaland’s agent has confirmed there is a release clause in his star client’s Manchester City contract.

Haaland has had an immense impact at City following his move from Borussia Dortmund in the summer. The Norwegian frontman is well on his way to breaking the Premier League scoring record for a single season, already racking up 25 goals, proving his worth having arrived on what looks like a bargain £51.2million deal.

City were able to get Haaland for that price because of the release clause in the striker’s Dortmund contract, and interestingly, he also has a release clause in his City deal. That’s according to Haaland’s agent, Rafaela Pimenta, who told Diario AS: “There is a release clause. That clause is only for foreign clubs, it’s not for Premier League clubs.”

Pimenta went on to confirm that the release clause is set between £160million and £177million, and asked why there is a clause, he responded: “I’m in favour of freedom. It is my battle. I always say that one of my priorities as an agent is to offer the player what they call ‘the key to the door’.

“When a player goes to a club, I do all I can to create a situation where the key is in their hands. If tomorrow you don’t want to be there anymore because you don’t like it, or if they don’t pay you well, or if your wide wants to live in Paris, well, you go, no? I don’t like it when the player has no freedom to decide. I have done all the contracts in this agency in 25 years. All of them. There wasn’t a single time when a player said ‘I want to go’ and they could not do it.”

Pimenta was also asked about what sort of fee Haaland should be commanding, given he has now established himself as one of the very best in world football.

“For me, Haaland is worth a billion,” claimed the superagent. “No one is going to pay that, but it’s the potential that he has when he arrives at a club. He brings with him fans, goals, results, professionalism, digital content, notoriety, sponsors...if you put all that together, his value includes a lot of things.

“But the price of a footballer, in reality, is set by a club. I know that no one is going to pay 700million for one player, but it’s very clear that Erling’s value when he arrives at a club is immense, it’s at least a billion.”