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Haaland to Man City transfer addressed by Guardiola as he admits 'everybody knows the situation'

Pep Guardiola says “everybody knows the situation” regarding Erling Haaland as Manchester City close in on the Borussia Dortmund striker.

GOAL understands personal terms have been agreed and City now only need to trigger the 21-year-old's €75 million (£63m/$81m) release clause, with confirmation of the transfer set to arrive later this week.

Guardiola said he was not allowed to discuss the deal any further, but promised to reveal all when everything was complete.

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What did Guardiola say about Man City signing Haaland?

The subject of Haaland was predictably the main talking point of Guardiola’s news conference on Tuesday, which was scheduled to preview City's Premier League trip to Wolves on Wednesday.

Asked about the impending transfer, Guardiola said: "Everybody knows the situation but I should not talk because I do not like to talk about the future, next season.

"At the same time I should say something, but Borussia Dortmund and Man City told me I'm not allowed to say anything until the deal is completely done, so I cannot talk, I’m sorry. We’ll have time to talk."

Pushed on how much input he had on persuading Haaland to make the switch to City, he added: "I would love to talk, honestly, but I can't! They tell me don’t say anything for the legal actions or the legal situation, it's far away from my perspective.

"We'll have time to talk about that. Not because I don't want but because I can't."

Guardiola on signing a new striker

The deal for Haaland finally ends City’s protracted hunt for a striker, which began with a failed summer-long pursuit for Tottenham’s Harry Kane last year.

Guardiola has, at times, fielded a team without an out-and-out striker this campaign, with forwards such as Raheem Sterling or Phil Foden playing centrally.

However, the City boss played down the significance of finally bringing in a natural frontman, pointing out that they already have a centre-forward in Gabriel Jesus, who has 13 goals in all competitions this season.

"We have a No 9 right now," said Guardiola. "We have I guess new players in the squad, some players will come up from academy to the first team next season.

"The new players always help us try to be a stronger team but a good defender will not solve our defensive problems and one striker will not resolve our scoring problems that maybe we have.

"Since day one - maybe the first season was not like this, especially in one period at the beginning of the season when we started well then after we dropped - but we have always been consistent scoring a lot of goals and conceding few.

"The stats are there, we are stable in those terms but the club always has to have a vision for the future. That's why with the decisions the club takes, I'm always completely aware and supportive 100 per cent."

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