Erling Haaland is the perfect tactical fit for Manchester City, according to analysts, and a deal for the Borussia Dortmund star would be incredible value for money.
An analysis of Europe's best forwards suggests the Norwegian would thrive at the Etihad and be a better bet than either Kylian Mbappe or Harry Kane.
Given Haaland is only 21, City could even recoup their costs on fees and wages - which would total around ?200million - after four years.  



As revealed by Sportsmail, City are frontrunners in the race for the star forward, personal terms have been discussed and if he makes the move, Haaland would become the Premier League's top earner, with a salary in excess of ?500,000 a week.
The Norwegian has a ?63m release clause in his contract — a relatively low fee that means both his agent Mino Raiola and his ex-City midfielder father Alf-Inge are also set to earn massive payments, with a total outlay expected to be near ?100m.
Even so, the recruitment team at City, who have the financial power to pursue any player, have made the prolific Borussia Dortmund striker their No 1 target this summer, and with good reason.
Sportsmail has teamed up with recruitment analysts Ai Abacus to produce our own scouting reports on three of the hottest properties in European football: Haaland, Tottenham Hotspur's Kane, 28, and Paris Saint Germain's Mbappe, 23.
And it is Haaland who comes out on top.

Here's why…











Analysts Ai Abacus have evaluated Kane, Mbappe and Haaland on the chemistry they would have with the City squad, their tactical fit and the costs of a deal.

Haaland comes out on top

Harry Kane: Ai Abacus Chemistry Rating 84
Kane would be expected to settle quickly in the City side.

After all, he has previously been named in squads alongside five of the City players on 276 occasions while on England duty.
Indeed, the model suggests his style complements that of England team-mates Jack Grealish and Phil Foden, but also Riyad Mahrez.
Despite its multinational make-up, the City squad are excellent linguists, with 21 of them speaking English, so communication will not be a problem for Kane and he is a similar age to 16 other players.





Mbappe (R) enjoyed a stunning season playing alongside Bernardo Silva (L) at Monaco 

Erling Haaland: Chemistry Rating 75
The chemistry rating for Haaland at City is lower than for Kane and Mbappe.
There is no problem in terms of playing style: Haaland is predicted to combine well with Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus.
Languages are not a problem for the Scandinavian, either.

He is fluent in Norwegian, Danish, English, Swedish and speaks basic German. 
But he has never played with any of the squad before and is a similar age to only seven of them, which adds an element of statistical uncertainty reflected in the reduced score.





Comparing Manchester City's tactical profile with each player, Haaland is almost a perfect fit 

Erling Haaland: Tactical rating 88
Erling Haaland is almost the perfect tactical fit for Manchester City.

His natural game matches City's style of play perfectly in nine out of 10 metrics employed by Ai Abacus, in possession and out.
The headline figure for the Norwegian is 80 goals in 80 appearances for Dortmund, but what lies beneath that statistic is the most important thing.
Haaland plays at the same high tempo as City, with a structured build up in attack and given his domination in the penalty area he brings something the team does not currently have.
Defensively, he is happy to counter press and already plays for a side in Germany, which adopts a high defensive line, and compresses the play into tighter areas. 
The striker is happy to receive the ball under pressure and is able to build up play despite the close attention of defenders.





Mbappe is also a strong match, but hasn't experienced Pep Guardiola's demanding style

Harry Kane: Tactical Rating 76
Kane is the ultimate number nine.

He has scored 242 times in 375 matches for Spurs. And like Haaland, he does the business in the box.
But in contrast to the Norwegian, the model predicts Kane would find it more difficult to adapt to City's attacking structure and high press.
Kane is devastating on the counter attack, which is not a regular feature of City's style, who have a more structured approach.

Out of possession, Kane would have to adjust to the high-energy counter press favoured by Guardiola.
While a player of his ability would adapt, it would be expected to take longer and there is greater uncertainty in the outcome, hence the lower score.




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Given his age, Haaland will retain a very high resale value making any deal very attractive

Kylian Mbappe
Potential Transfer fee: Free plus costs
Expected Salary Package to 2026: ?160m
Predicted Resale Value in 2026: ?150m
As it stands Mbappe, who was signed by PSG from Monaco in 2018 for ?150m, is available on a free transfer this summer.

However, there would still be considerable payments to agents.
In addition, reports suggest Mbappe is negotiating in Paris for an eye-watering ?800,000-a-week contract, which would cost ?160m over four years.
The estimated resale value of Mbappe in 2026 is put at closer to ?150m, meaning that overall, the projected cost of a deal for Mbappe would be greater than Haaland, if he was sold after four years of a five-year deal.





Kane is 28 and in the summer of 2026, he would turn 33, reducing his resale value



 



Erling Haaland is the perfect fit for City
Analysts weigh in the balance a player's strengths, the tactical fit, the chemistry he may have with team mates and the cost of the deal.
The balance changes constantly depending on who is available and their valuations, although as far as some clubs are concerned, who is in form always holds sway.
But a statistical analysis should give a more enduring indication of what constitutes good value.
Analysts like Ai Abacus, analyse millions of data points, to create predictive models to reduce the risk of a transfer.

And for City, Haaland is the number one choice.

















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