Erling Braut Haaland reportedly has a £175m release clause in his Manchester City contract which applies exclusively to foreign clubs.
The 22-year-old moved to the Etihad Stadium from Borussia Dortmund over the summer after the Citizens activated the £51m release clause in his deal with the Bundesliga club.
While many would assume that City have recruited Haaland for a cut-price fee, the overall cost of the deal is believed to be worth in excess of £100m, including agent fees, signing bonuses and his £375,000-a-week wages.
A recent report claimed that Haaland has a release clause in his contract which could allow Real Madrid to sign the striker in 2024.
However, Man City manager Pep Guardiola has since denied that such a clause exists in the Norwegian's deal.
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"It's not true. He has not a release clause for Real Madrid or any other team," Guardiola told reporters via James Robson. "It's not true. That's all I can say. Rumours we cannot control."
However, The Athletic reports that there is a €200m (£175m) release clause in Haaland's five-year contract which can only be activated by clubs competing outside of the Premier League.
The report adds that the big-money clause will become active in the summer of 2024 and its value will decrease towards his expiry date in 2027.
This news is set to alert the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, who were all credited with an interest in Haaland before he decided to join Man City.
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Los Blancos may consider replacing Karim Benzema, who will turn 36 during the 2024-25 campaign, while Barca new summer signing Robert Lewandowski will be the same age that season.
Haaland has made an exceptional start to life at the Etihad, scoring 20 goals in just 13 appearances across all competitions, including 15 strikes in nine Premier League games.
The Norway international has already scored three Premier League hat-tricks for Man City, netting trebles against Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United in three successive home matches.
Haaland has only failed to find the net in one game for Guardiola's side this term, which was the 4-0 league win over Bournemouth on the second weekend of the new season.
Oliver Thomas
