Sparta Smashes Transfer Record: Around 145 Million Crowns for New Striker, Who Counts Haaland Among His Fans

Prague's Sparta is close to finalising the most expensive deal in the club's history — striker Jonatan Braut Brunes will move from Poland's Raków Częstochowa for around six million euros (roughly 145 million crowns), a fee set to become the priciest transfer in the history of Czech football.

An unexpected bonus for the club came when Manchester City star and one of the world's finest forwards, Erling Haaland, started following Sparta's official social media account — all because of Brunes, his cousin. The Norwegian goal machine shared childhood photos of the pair, along with pictures from Brunes' unveiling as Sparta's newest signing.

The 25-year-old Brunes has never hidden the close bond he shares with his more famous relative, who is two years his senior. Haaland has backed him since the very start of his career. "Erling always told me to enjoy football, that it's just a game. That's the mindset I try to keep," Brunes once said in an interview.

Still, the family connection has had its downsides — wherever Brunes went, comparisons with his celebrated cousin inevitably followed. According to Michal Karas, senior editor of Livesport's Polish desk, that pressure weighed on the forward early in his time at Raków: "His first months weren't perfect. At times it looked like he might trip over the ball before he could even poke it into the net."

Gradually, though, the Norwegian striker silenced the doubters. He truly blossomed in the Polish league, netting 40 goals over two seasons and proving that foreign clubs' interest in him was no fluke. "Once he finds his rhythm, he becomes a very reliable goalscorer. He has a great instinct for positional play in the box. I'd say he still hasn't fully unlocked his potential at Raków," Karas added.

Thanks to Brunes, Sparta may have just gained its most famous fan in Haaland. But above all, the club is banking on this record-breaking investment in the young Norwegian forward paying off on the pitch.

Around Prague, based on reporting by denik.cz