Manchester City have now agreed on terms with Erling Haaland representatives and are ready to pay his £63 million release clause ahead of next season.
Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland transfer rumours have been doing rounds for quite some time now and if, recent reports are to be believed the Norwegian striker has finally chosen his next destination. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona have all shown interest in signing the striker however one side has beaten all these teams to secure his signature. The team we are talking about is Manchester City as reports have emerged of them finally landing the hottest prospect in European football.
Erling Haaland has had an outstanding career with Germany's Bundesliga side Borrusia Dortmund and a tweet from The Athletic UK states that Haaland's move to Manchester City is a done deal with the announcement likely to be made this week. According to report by si.com, English giants have now agreed on terms with their transfer target's representatives and are ready to pay his £63 million release clause ahead of next season.
Erling Haaland's proposed move to Manchester City is now a 'done deal', with the switch from Borussia Dortmund likely to be announced this week.
The Norwegian striker has chosen the Premier League champions ahead of Real Madrid & others.#MCFC | #RMCF | #BVB
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) May 9, 2022
Personal terms have been agreed on a five-year basic £350,000-a-week contract and they have now agreed to trigger his £64million release clause with the striker's current club Borussia Dortmund.
The Premier League leaders have been chasing the striking sensation, one of Europe's hottest properties, for around 18 months. But City decided to wait for Haaland this summer after plans to sign Harry Kane hit the buffers last summer.
And Guardiola's insistence that they could manage without a recognised striker has been partially vindicated this season with City in pole position to land the Premier League title. Adding the Norway international to the squad is expected by City's bosses to take the club to the next level, namely, to challenge once again for the Champions League.
Haaland, who was born in Leeds, has scored 85 goals in 88 appearances and could slot in at the upper end of City's wage structure with just Kevin de Bruyne ahead of him in earnings. His father Alf-Inge Haaland is also expected to net a multi-million-pound windfall from the deal as an advisor.
Many Players have experienced taking the UEFA Champions League match ball home. But few have done it multiple times. Listening to the UEFA Champions League anthem on the pitch while being in the starting lineup is the dream of every other kid football fan. But among the dreamers, few players go on to make further history in the game.
Players who leave a lasting impression through their quality, be it defending, goalkeeping, or even scoring goals. In this article, we will have a look at the players with the most hat-tricks in the UEFA Champions League history.
RANK
PLAYERS
HAT-TRICKS
CLUBS
1
Cristiano Ronaldo
8
Real Madrid (7), Juventus (1)
2
Lionel Messi
8
FC Barcelona (8)
3
Robert Lewandowski
6
Borussia Dortmund (1), Bayern Munich (4), FC Barcelona (1)
4
Karim Benzema
4
Real Madrid (1)
5
Luiz Adriano
3
Shakhtar Donetsk (3)
6
Mario Gomez
3
Bayern Munich (3)
7
Filippo Inzaghi
3
Juventus (2), AC Milan (1)
8
Neymar Junior
3
FC Barcelona (1), Paris Saint-Germain (2)
9
Kylian Mbappe
3
Paris Saint-Germain (2), Real Madrid (1)
10
Harry Kane
2
Tottenham Hotspurs (1), FC Bayern Munich (1)
10. Harry Kane| 2 Hat-tricks| Tottenham Hotspurs & Bayern Munich:
First Hat-trick | Tottenham Hotspurs:
On 26th September 2017, Harry Kane hit his first hat-trick in the UEFA Champions League against APOEL FC, Tottenham Hotspurs won that match 3-0 in the group stage and Kane finished the group stage joint second in the top scorers chart with six goals.
Second Hat-trick | FC Bayern Munich:
On 18th September 2024, Harry Kane hit his second hat-trick against Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Champions League. Kane scored 4 goals and Bayern Munich won that match 9-2 at Allianz Arena in Munich.
9. Kylian Mbappe | 3 Hat-tricks | Paris Saint-Germain & Real Madrid:
On 17 February 2017, Kylian Mbappe scored his second UEFA Champions League Round of 16 hat-tricks against the mighty FC Barcelona in Parc des Princes. Mbappe scored 3 goals and Moises Keane scored the last goal against Barcelona and they won 4-1 against the Blaugranes.
8. Neymar Jr. | 3 Hat-tricks | FC Barcelona & Paris Saint-Germain:
First Hat-trick | FC Barcelona:
On December 11, 2013, Neymar Jr. scored his first-ever hat-trick in the UEFA Champions League at Camp Nou in Spain. In that Lionel Messi was injured, but Neymar stepped up and scored a hat-trick against Celtic FC and FC Barcelona triumphed over a dominant 6-1 win against Celtic FC.
Filippo Inzaghi scored his first UEFA Champions League hat-trick against Dynamo Kyiv. Filippo Inzaghi became the first Juventus player to score a UEFA Champions League hat-trick when he found the back of the net on three occasions against Dynamo Kyiv in March 1998. Juventus won that match with a comfortable 4-1 scoreline.
Second Hat-trick | Juventus:
On 13 September 2000, Filippo Inzaghi netted his first UEFA Champions League hat-trick against Hamburg. Filippo Inzaghi's hat-trick rescued Juventus as an astonishing Champions League match against Hamburg finished 4-4 in Germany. Juventus led 3-1 at one stage before falling 4-3 behind and it needed a late penalty from Inzaghi to rescue a point.
Third Hat-trick | AC Milan:
The former Italian international scored his third UEFA Champions League hat-trick in his iconic AC Milan Jersey against Deportivo La Coruna. With the help of his hat-trick AC Milan won with a comfortable 4-0 scoreline in the 2002-03 season.
6. Mario Gomez | 3 Hat-tricks | FC Bayern Munich:
Mario Gomez bagged 3 UCL hat-tricks for Bayern Munich | Bayern Munich
Mario Gomez scored his first UEFA Champions League hat-trick against the Romanian side CFR Cluj in November 2010. Almost a year to the day later, the German forward scored a match-winning hat-trick against Napoli to seal a 3-2 win.
Luiz Adriano had registered his first UEFA Champions League hat-trick two years prior when he netted three times in Shakhtar's 5-2 win over Danish side Nordsjaelland in November 2012. Luiz Adriano netted his second UEFA Champions League hat-trick against BATE Borisov in the 2014 season. The Brazilian recorded his third hat-trick against BATE as he inspired Shakhtar to a 5-0 win.
The Frenchman would wait five years for his second as he scored three times in an 8-0 win over Malmo, scoring three against PSG in March 2022, Benzema recorded his fourth UEFA Champions League hat-trick in a 3-1 win over Chelsea in April that year.
The Polish forward had already agreed on terms with Bayern at that point and Lewandowski recorded four hat-tricks for the German giants when opposing Dinamo Zagreb, Red Star Belgrade, Benfica, and lastly Red Bull Salzburg.
The former Barcelona legend scored other six UEFA Champions League hat-tricks against Ajax, APOEL Nicosia, Celtic, Manchester City, and PSV Eindhoven, a record equaled by Cristiano Ronaldo just six months later.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo | 8 Hat-tricks | Real Madrid & Juventus:
Although the most memorable one came against Atlético de Madrid the second time. This time in the colors of Juventus. Juventus progressed 3-2 on aggregate to reach the quarterfinals.
The American winger, Christian Pulisic is set to join AC Milan and become the second player after Ruben Loftus-Cheek to have make the move from London to the city of Milan in this year's Transfer window. Chelsea received numerous offers for the winger but Pulisic was poised to join AC Milan, so Chelsea had to drop their asking price.
Also read about former Manchester United goalkeeper, Edwin Van Der Sar.
Pulisic to AC Milan
Christian Pulisic is set to join AC Milan from Chelsea. (Photo by Getty Images).
As reported by Fabrizio Romano and many journalists, Pulisic is set to join AC Milan over a fee of around £20m, which many include some undisclosed bonuses. Personal terms were never a problem as the USMNT captain wanted the move from Stamford bridge to San Siro weeks ago.
The move was made possible because of the good relationship betwen the clubs which grew over the last few years. With Ruben Loftus-Cheek making the move in June, Pulisic is set for a reunion with the midfielder. Fikayo Tomori and Olivier Giroud is also one of the other AC Milan players who used to play with Pulisic at Chelsea.
Pulisic joined Chelsea from German giants, Dortmund for a fee of £58m, four years ago in 2019. Since then he has managed to have 145 appearances for the Blues in all competition, bagging 26 goals and 21 assists.
He hasn't really been able to perform for Chelsea due to various reasons, the major one being injuries. He rarely saw an extended run of starts during his time in London. Although he was crucial in Chelsea's Champions League win in 2021 yet his time at Chelsea couldn't be termed as successful.
Milan are in the process of scheduling his medicals at San Siro as soon as he returns from his holiday after helping his national side in winning the Nations League. He would like to bring back his Dortmund form to Milan and because he's still 24 years of age, he could still develop as a player.
Milan would like to use the winger in the number 10 position, just behind the striker or he could also be played as a substitute to Rafael Leao. It would interesting to see how he performs for Milan and how quickly he can adapt to the playing style in the Italian League.
Football has produced some of the most dominating teams in the world. Especially in Europe, there are some teams that are considered the best among the best. Apart from dominating the entire world, some of the teams dominate their own domestic league too. The likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona are prime examples. We will look into the clubs with the most league titles in Europe's top 5 leagues.
Manchester United have been the most successful club in England by far. They have 20 premier league titles to their name which is the most in England. The English giants have dominated the better part of the last decade but recently failed to match with the latest success of Manchester City, Liverpool, or Chelsea. They won their first-ever league title in the 1907-08 season, however, the 2012-13 season was the last time Manchester United won the Premier League.
Liverpool are the second most successful club in England. They have 19 premier league titles to their name, only 1 behind their bitter rivals Manchester United. Liverpool won their last league title in the 2019-20 season by a huge margin of 18 points. They also lost two times to Manchester City by only a single point in recent times. Liverpool are not having a great 2022-23 season as they are struggling to get in the top 4 spots.
Arsenal won their last league title in the 2003-04 season. Wnger's men went unbeaten and finished the season without a single loss in the league. Since then, they haven't rise up to the occasion. Arsenal are the third most successful club in England in terms of league trophies. They were on the verge to become Champion after 18 years but bottled the chances. They have to wait for the 14th league title for at least a year.
Real Madrid are on the top with 35 La Liga titles in their cabinet. The Los Blancos won their first La Liga title in 1931-32. Apparently, their last league title came in 2021-22. Real Madrid are the most decorated football team in the world. They dominate the charts of domestic league titles as well as the UCL title. The Los Blancos have won 35 league titles and 13 European titles. However, FC Barcelona kind of ended their long-lasting dominance over the past few decades, but Los Blancos still remains the most successful team in Spain in terms of titles won.
FC Barcelona are in the second spot with 27 league titles. Spain has been dominated by two teams for the majority of the time, with FC Barcelona being one of them. Barcelona have struggled in the last two seasons to come out on top due to their financial issues & Messi's departure.
Barca's former midfielder and one of the Legends, Xavi took charge last season and turned things around for the Catalans. Their last La Liga title came in the 2018-19 season. And in the 2022-23 season, under manager Xavi, they won their 27th league title, the first in the post-Messi era.
Atletico Madrid's first league title came in 1939-40 and was followed by another win in 1940-41. The Colchoneros are yet to taste the Champions League success but have won the Europa League and the Super Cup on three occasions. The club has also won the Copa del Rey 10 times. Atletico Madrid last won their La Liga title in the 2020-21 season.
The Italian giants fell numb after the 2002-03 season and failed to win the domestic title for the rest of the decade. However, things turned on their head when they won 9 league titles in a stretch from 2011-12 to 2019-20. Juventus won their first league title in 1905. After that, they were crowned Champion 35 times more.
Inter Milan are regarded as one of the best clubs in Europe. They lost the opportunity to win the Serie A this season. They were not consistent throughout the season. Although they are in the Semi-Final of the Champions League. Inter won their first league title in the 1909-10 season. Then they had to wait 10 years to win the title for the second time. From 2005, they won the league for five consecutive seasons. That was the golden period for them in the league.
AC Milan are one of the best clubs in Europe. There was a time when they were untouchable in European Competitions. Milan have produced some greatest players to ever play football. They won their first league title in 1901. Since then, they have won the league 19 times. The best time period for AC Milan in the league was during the late 90s. They won 5 league titles during the 1991-2000 timeline. 2021-22 is the most recent season when they clinched their last league title.
AC Milan's League title-winning years: 1901, 1906, 1907, 1950-51, 1954-55, 1956-57, 1958-59, 1961-62, 1967-68, 1978-79, 1987-88, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1998-99, 2003-04, 2010-11 and 2021-22.
In Bundesliga, it has always been one-sided domination. They are also one of the strongest competitors to feature from Europe's top 5 leagues. The Bavarians have bagged 32 domestic titles so far and are miles ahead of their direct rivals Borussia Dortmund which sits on just 8 titles. After winning last season they created a record of winning the most Bundesliga titles in consecutive seasons (10).
Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. Although PSG might be the most popular team at the moment, AS Saint-Étienne is at the top with 10 titles. PSG matches their numbers after winning the 2021-22 season.
AS Saint-Étienne's League title-winning years: 1956–57, 1963–64, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1980–81
It's not often the fans get to witness this kind of a title race in the Bundesliga. the German League is arguably shaping up to have the most interesting title race among Europe's top five leagues this season. With Bayern only a point clear at the top heading into the final three games, which last occurred in 2018-19 and are rather erratic, it's impossible to rule Edin Terzic's Borussia Dortmund out of the running.
For the players of Bayern, and the club in general, that dominance manifests itself as know-how or "experience". They've been there, done that, got the T-shirt, worn the hat. Bayern are the favourites to go on and win their 11th consecutive title from here.
Dortmund haven't challenged Bayern for the title lately. This could be the season for them as they have been brilliant throughout the season. Dortmund could have sat on the top if they got the penalty against Bochum. The match ended with a 1-1 scoreline while Bayern won their match against Mainz. That was a clear penalty but it became a controversial call after the referee denied it completely. These things decide a title, it surely does.
Dortmund have to win all three remaining games and expect Bayern to lose. Otherwise, it will be done and dusted. If Dortmund lose their next game which will be against Mönchengladbach, and Bayern win their game against Schalke, then it will be over for Dortmund. Winning against Mönchengladbach is very hard as they always trouble the top 4 teams. The scariest part for Dortmund is, they haven't won the 1st league game against them this season. Mönchengladbach have defeated them by a 4-2 scoreline. Although Dortmund have a home advantage this time and the players are motivated to go all in for the title.
On the other side, Bayern will face Schalke in the next matchday. Schalke are sitting in the 15th position so it shouldn't be a problem to defeat them. Although, Bayern haven't been good this season. It might be rude but the fact is, they are in the 1st position of the table because of the individual qualities and varieties. So, It will be very interesting to see which team will go on and win the title.
Bundesliga 2022-23: Upcoming Matchdays for Bayern & Dortmund
Real Madrid are so close to securing a deal to sign the Engish talent Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund. Jude has been the target for Premier League clubs including Manchester City but negotiations with Madrid are progressing to the final stages. The Champions League holders have almost agreed personal terms with Bellingham. The work of their chief scout, Juni Calafat, has been important in accelerating discussions to this point. A meeting is scheduled to try to complete an agreement with Dortmund.
No fee has been settled between Madrid & Dortmund. Real do not anticipate a problem in that regard and they hope to finalise matters this month. The progress made by the Spanish club would be a huge blow for Manchester City.
Liverpool withdrew from the race last month because the cost would have restricted the planned overhaul of Jürgen Klopp's squad. Manchester United are interested in the player but that was contingent on moves by the Glazers to sell the club or take outside investment.
Jude Bellingham joined Dortmund from Birmingham in 2020 and has developed into one of the world's most exciting players. For Real Madrid, there is succession planning as well as short-term thinking involved in targeting Bellingham, with Toni Kroos and Luka Modric aged 33 and 37 respectively.
Real Madrid have been well off the pace in La Liga this season. Tuesday's defeat against Real Sociedad left them 14 points behind Barcelona. Barcelona just have to register a victory in the next game to secure the title. Real Madrid remain in contention for two trophies. They will face City in the Champions League semi-finals, with the first leg at the Bernabéu on Tuesday, and play Osasuna in Saturday's Copa del Rey final.
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