Man City rival Liverpool and Arsenal as club chief eyes £30million transfer battle

Manchester City are set to rival Liverpool and Arsenal for the £30m signing of Red Bull Salzburg star Noah Okafor.

The centre-forward, who can also operate as a winger on either flank, is enjoying a top season in Austria. He has managed 10 goals and two assists in his first 22 matches this campaign, with seven of those strikes coming in Austria’s Bundesliga.

Okafor found the net 14 times in the whole of last season, so he is primed and ready to surpass that achievement when domestic leagues return after the World Cup.

The 22-year-old, who is hoping to be a part of the Switzerland squad for the tournament, has previously been linked with a lot of European clubs.

Arsenal and Liverpool are noted as admirers of the young striker, whilst reports from Italy have mentioned Chelsea, West Ham United, Leeds and also reigning Serie A champions AC Milan.

Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg reports that Manchester City are also in the race to sign Red Bull Salzburg forward Noah Okafor.

Intriguingly, the Salzburg hierarchy have already refused to reject the prospect of a move for Okafor in the near future with his price tag apparently sitting at €35m (£30m).

Speaking to Sky Sport Austria, the club’s current sporting director Christoph Freund said: “I think there will be a bit more going on in the transfer market than in recent years. Okafor really took off last year. I hope he plays a good World Cup, then the Noah Okafor stock can become very interesting. I’m not ruling it out.”

The youngster has just a year-and-a-half remaining on his current deal having arrived in Austria from Swiss giants Basel in January 2020.

Should he seal a move away from Salzburg in the near future then Okafor would become the latest in an ever-growing list of talented strikers to have cut their teeth with their Austrian side.

Erling Haaland is one of the most famous names to have starred for the club before his move to Borussia Dortmund – the Norwegian having been followed by the likes of Patson Daka and Karim Adeyemi. Former Liverpool star Sadio Mane also had a spell with Salzburg before being picked up by Southampton in the summer of 2014.

Okafor will certainly be hoping to add to his impressive form as he prepares for his first World Cup. The young striker has been named in the Switzerland squad for the upcoming tournament in Qatar alongside potential future Arsenal teammate Granit Xhaka.

The Swiss kick off their Group G campaign against Cameroon in a week’s time before clashing with Brazil and Serbia.