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Liverpool could potentially sign Erling Haaland on a free transfer amid Manchester City’s pending punishment for financial breaches.
The eight-time Premier League champions have been found guilty of 114 breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules, with an independent commission finding that Man City arranged “sham” contracts between 2009-10 and 2017-18.
City have confirmed they will appeal the verdict, but the club have been found to have artificially boosted their income by more than £900 million and while there is no precedent for the penalty they will receive, a hefty points deduction or an expulsion from the Premier League is widely expected to be issued.
Haaland has been linked with a host of top clubs since Man City were found guilty, with La Liga giants Barcelona and Real Madrid widely expected to pursue a deal if he becomes available for sale next year.
Meanwhile, as exclusively revealed by FootballTransfers, Arsenal are also keeping close tabs on the Norway superstar’s situation and they are ready to pounce if the opportunity arises.
Liverpool may feasibly be interested too and they have now been informed that Haaland could potentially rip up his contract at the Etihad Stadium, according to barrister Paul Gilroy KC.
Erling Haaland to join Liverpool?
“Every contract of employment, whether it’s a footballer or someone who works in a shop, has got an implied term in it, in other words, a term that’s not written down, and the implied term we’re talking about here is the term of trust and confidence,” Gilroy said during an appearance on the Stick to Football podcast.
“So if I work for you, you and I must have sufficient trust and confidence in each other to enable that relationship to work. If you don’t trust me or I don’t trust you, or you call me a liar and a thief on a Tuesday, I can’t work for you on a Wednesday.
“Trust and confidence. Now a player could say ‘You have breached the implied terms of trust and confidence, you are my employer; you have acted in breach of that term, and that entitles me to say I’m ripping up my contract and I’m walking out’.”
Jamie Carragher then asked: “So Liverpool could sign Haaland for free next week?”
In response, Gilroy admitted: “That is a possibility; I’ve seen commentators saying [it is] unlikely; it depends on so many things. What’s the club going to say to the players? How do they sort it out financially? Etc. etc., but arguably, it’s certainly a possibility.”
Haaland, who has scored 169 goals in 205 games for Man City, has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €159.3m and he would be in competition with Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike for a place in Liverpool’s starting XI if the Reds are able to complete a blockbuster deal.
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