Real Madrid are going to do everything in their power to sign Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland in the summer 2022 transfer window. The Mbappe signing is as good as done when the winter transfer window opens, barring an unforeseen calamity. Mbappe wants only Madrid, and Madrid have wanted him for years.
Although you may have seen people say that Real Madrid are only going after Mbappe, anyone who has followed Florentino Perez’s career knows that the president always wants to make a big splash. With the Santiago Bernabeu becoming bigger than ever, Vinicius Junior stepping into the limelight as a superstar in his own right, and the likes of Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema still on top of their game, Real can announce they are back in a big way by unveiling the two most valuable players in the world together next summer.
Real Madrid have saved enough to make this work financially, and the new Bernabeu is a big long-term boon for the club’s income. So the biggest concern with being able to sign Haaland in addition to Mbappe is the idea of them co-existing. Tactically, it can work. Psychologically, it depends. And the decision will come down to Haaland and nobody else. No, not even his father or Mino Raiola.
Recently, the Bundesliga posted an interview with the Borussia Dortmund superstar, and there is one response that Madridistas need to key in on.
Haaland was asked about his “hopes and dreams”, and his answer was about as succinct and sensible as it gets:
"“I want to win as many trophies as possible.”"
Kylian Mbappe might actually help convince Erling Haaland to join Real Madrid
Even earlier in the interview, he was asked about individual accomplishments he was proud of. The first thing he said, before admitting it was the Golden Boy Award, was that his focus is on Dortmund. The implication there is that he cares more about winning with Dortmund than anything else, which was made even more clear later when discussing the DFB Pokal triumph last season.
Haaland is a winner. Everything he does is to put his team in the best position to win. That mostly means being the guy who scores goals and has ice in his veins, but, as we have seen at Dortmund, he will do so much to put in the work in other phases to achieve that means. Haaland knows that legacies are defined by championships, first and foremost.
And because of this mentality, Real Madrid fans should feel confident that he would not worry about sharing the spotlight with Mbappe, Benzema, and Vinicius at the Bernabeu. If the goal is to win trophies and to be the most dominant player ever, there is nothing wrong with going for the team that gives you the best opportunity to do that. As we have seen with superstars in the NBA, there is nothing wrong with playing with other top players. It’s not as easy as it looks, especially not in football. Just ask Lionel Messi this season at PSG.
Haaland has a tough choice to make next summer. There will be many suitors and a lot of money thrown around. But if winning trophies is his priority, Real Madrid stand a great chance in the race. Because if that is Haaland’s main goal, then playing with Mbappe, for example, would actually increase the Merengue club’s chances at landing the Norwegian international.