Manchester City are preparing a new contract offer for Erling Haaland after a release clause in his current deal was removed.
Haaland joined City from Borussia Dortmund last summer for the relatively low transfer fee of £51.2million, which was inserted into his contract when he agreed to move to Germany from Red Bull Salzburg in December 2019.
The 22-year-old's City contract also contained a clause that permitted him to leave for £150m in the summer of 2024 — at the end of his second season — if a club met the terms and he wanted to make the move.
However, the clause was specifically linked to Pep Guardiola's future in Manchester and was cancelled when the Catalan renewed his own contract in November, committing himself to the club until 2025.
The exact terms of Haaland's City contract are shrouded in secrecy and it is unclear whether similar release clauses kick in later during in his time in England.
City, though, are keen to extend his time at the club to reflect his stellar first season in English football, and there is a belief that the Norway striker is open to fresh talks.
While there have been intermittent links to Real Madrid during Haaland's first season at City, and although a move to the Santiago Bernabeu has always been an ambition of his, he is said to be extremely happy at his current club.
The striker believes he is at the right club to improve as a player, and is delighted that a series of promises made by City during negotiations to buy him last spring have been kept. For example, ensuring that he is looked after physically.
“I don't know what he's done in Dortmund but we take care of him 24 hours,” Guardiola said recently. “We have incredible doctors and physios, they are behind him every second of the day.”
Haaland has scored 47 goals in 40 games in all competitions so far this season and it is not unusual for City to agree new deals with players who have shone in their debut campaign.
Julian Alvarez recently extended his contract and received a pay rise only halfway into his first season in Manchester, and in recent years both Ederson and Ruben Dias have re-signed less than a year after arriving.