Real Madrid‘s signing of Kylian Mbappe, the best player in the world right now, is a guarantee. Los Blancos are confident that they could also sign Erling Haaland this coming summer, because the player’s representatives have told the club that he would like to wear the famous white shirt.
The problem is that Manchester City are also optimistic, as they’ve been told that he would like to play there as well.
The auction for Haaland began a year ago when Mino Raiola embarked on a European tour trying to speak to potential buyers. The stopped off in Spain on April 1, first going to Barcelona and then on to Madrid. Joan Laporta was keen, and Real Madrid listened carefully and agreed to talk again down the line. Then, Mbappe was the priority.
A few months ago, Raiola was contacted to get talks going again. This time, it was the agent who asked for those discussions to be delayed. He knew that Barcelona were no longer an option, so he needed Paris Saint-Germain or Manchester City to really enter the race for the Norwegian.
PSG turned to Ousmane Dembele as Mbappe‘s replacement, and City have now entered negotiations with Raiola for Haaland. Having considered Cristiano Ronaldo last summer before pulling the plug, Pep Guardiola is adamant that City need to sign a goalscorer like Haaland. City are willing to talk, which would see the price of a deal shoot up to between 335-350 million euros.
Real Madrid don’t want to pay such sums, nor do they want to match the salary that City can offer. Not even Mbappe will earn the 30 million euros Haaland wants.
So, the decision is Haaland‘s. If he’s happy to share the spotlight and money isn’t his biggest motivator, he’ll join Real Madrid to form a lethal partnership with the Frenchman. Otherwise, he’ll earn more at City and be the focal point of their attack.
Marca
