Real Madrid have been in the running for Erling Haaland for a while now, and, according to reports, are leading the race to sign him at the moment since the Norwegian prefers a move to the Spanish capital over everything else.
It’s a lot more complex than that, though, and it involves some external factors as well. Real are not the only team interested in signing Haaland next summer. In fact, for some reason, Barcelona president Joan Laporta has been giving Barcelona fans hope that he’ll try his best to sign Haaland this summer. Personally, I don’t see it happening, but more on that later.
Anyway, everyone expects him to move in the summer, but his decision of which club to go to would have to come a lot sooner than we initially thought, per source. According to a report from MARCA, Borussia Dortmund have set a deadline for Erling Haaland’s decision.
Erling Haaland will have to choose his next club by 31 January, per source
According to the report, the directors at Borussia Dortmund want to know beforehand where Haaland’s future lies. My guess would obviously be that they want to scout players for his replacement. He’s their best player by quite some distance, and they’d want to sign a very good replacement that would keep them in the running in every competition that the club is in.
It also says in the report that it is a lot more difficult for Barcelona than it is for Real Madrid to get the signature of Erling Haaland. We all know Haaland’s signing would require a lot – and I mean a lot – of money, close to 400 million euros overall. And I think Real Madrid’s excellent financial position during the pandemic makes them capable of pulling it off.
Barcelona, on the other hand, have suffered a lot, and their wage bill is skyrocketing even without Lionel Messi’s humongous contract, so much so that they haven’t been able to register Ferran Torres yet. They’d have to get rid of a lot of players to accommodate Haaland’s hefty contract, and to be honest, I just don’t see that happening.
Real Madrid’s wage structure has always been fantastic, and the higher-ups believe that Real Madrid have the financial ability to sign both Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, so it remains to be seen whether it actually happens.
It makes a lot of sense for the higher-ups at Borussia Dortmund to want to know Haaland’s decision, because, you never know, he might end up staying there for another season, even though the chances of that are highly unlikely. But even if he doesn’t, they’d still need time and resources to find a replacement – someone who has the potential to become one of the best strikers in the world.
Of course, these two clubs aren’t the only ones in the race, so we will have to wait and see which club Haaland decides on by 31st January, but I think that the chances of Real Madrid being that club are pretty high.