ERLING HAALAND has signed an eye-watering new £20million contract.
But it is NOT with Manchester City.
Instead the Norwegian goal machine agreed new terms with boot supplier Nike.
Reports last month suggested he was close to signing the deal.
And now he has put pen to paper on the fresh terms worth a staggering £20m in reportedly the biggest sponsorship deal in football.
It is understood the contract lasts more than a decade and was signed so Haaland could emulate his hero Ronaldo as the “new face of No9”.
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The City superstar, 22, first joined Nike aged just 14 but his latest contract expired in January 2022.
That led to him wearing various boots including Puma Ultras for his City unveiling and adidas X Speedportals in the Community Shield.
But he returned to his tried and tested Nike Mercurial Vapors for his Premier League debut as the bidding war between the three companies waged on.
Now, though, it is all settled with a “career-long” contract as a key figure for the American brand.
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Nike have Kylian Mbappe, Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane, Kevin De Bruyne and Cristiano Ronaldo on their existing list of stars.
They also sponsor some of the best women in world football with Alexia Putellas, Ada Hegerberg, Leah Williamson, Megan Rapinoe and Sam Kerr on the books.
A Nike statement said: “His record-breaking scoring has put a stamp on the future of the game, and makes him the heir to No 9 — the next-generation striker.”
Haaland has continued to bang in the goals with terrifying frequency since arriving at the Etihad for £51.4m last summer.
He has 42 goals in just 37 games under Pep Guardiola and shows no sign of slowing down.
The soon-to-be Golden Boot winner could break the Premier League goal record for a single season by netting seven more times to surpass Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer’s tally of 34.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
