You wouldn't be surprised if its already began. The tactics I'm talking about, not for when the two sides meet at Old Trafford in November but focusing on how they can persuade Erling Haaland to wear either the blue of City or red of United in Manchester next season.
Of course, the other European big boys will be in for him and perhaps even Liverpool but the Haaland family have history in the Manchester derby, which could indicate he will be more in favour of a move to the Etihad Stadium and the chance to play under Pep Guardiola.
Rewinding 20 years back and in April 2001, it was a time when United were formidable and City were all about survival in the English top flight, Haaland's father Alf Inge basically had his career ended by United captain Roy Keane at Old Trafford in retaliation for an incident which happened in 1997, whilst Haaland, a central midfielder, was playing for Leeds United. A collision between the two saw Keane damage his knee ligament's at Elland Road as the Premier League title made its way to Arsenal.
The bad memories of this moment in his father's career could go against United and feed the narrative of Haaland moving to City to keep the blue half on top of the dominance. With Keane and a host of Manchester United legends still heavily invested in the progress of their former club, it would no doubt hurt them to see Erling, who played well and scored the opening goal against Virgil van Dijk and Holland in last night's World Cup qualifying 1-1 draw in his native Norway, join the Cityzens.
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On the other hand, Haaland, who admires Ronaldo and of course Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who he moved to Molde earlier in his career to play under the Norwegian club's former boss, could eliminate the past.
What is known so far is that the forward who has scored 43 times for Dortmund is that he has a release clause in his contract for £64.5 million and that he is almost certain to move on from the Bundesliga next summer. Manchester, for all the romance that circulate the player in both directions, seems to be the likely destination.
Topics: Manchester City, Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, Erling Haaland, Norway, Premier League, Cristiano Ronaldo