🚨 Dortmund sporting director on the record about the 2022 Haaland sale: “Manchester City never wanted the real number out. That was the first condition they put on the table. Not the release clause everyone printed. The full package. Officially it was reported as £51 million because that was the figure written into the clause and that was the figure they asked us to stand by. Internally it was a completely different conversation. When you add the guaranteed payments, the structured extras and what was agreed around the player’s camp, we were looking at something close to €250 million all-in. That is more than PSG paid for Neymar in 2017. City knew that. We knew that. They did not want Europe talking about it. They were very clear: if Dortmund confirmed anything above the clause, the deal would become politically messy for them. So there was a private understanding. We stay silent on the real total. They stay silent. A few people in the media were steered toward the £51m line and that became the official story I am not going to sit here four years later and pretend we sold the best young striker in Europe for pocket money. We did not. City paid what they had to pay to get him. They just did not want the world to see the receipt.”