Real Madrid and Manchester City are locked in a tough transfer battle for Borussia Dortmund superstar striker Erling Haaland. While Los Blancos essentially have Kylian Mbappe secured this summer, president Florentino Perez will not give up on the dream of signing two Galacticos in the same window. Nor should he. Haaland is a special talent who can help the club win trophies and earn marketing opportunities in 2022 and beyond.
But Manchester City have more financial power than even Madrid. They have recently made an offer to Haaland that has Los Blancos worried. If City were to sign Haaland over Los Merengues, though, Madridistas should not be upset.
Here is why it’s OK if the Citizens end up with Haaland.
Better Manchester City than Barcelona
I don’t think anyone has really bought into this idea that Barcelona can sign Erling Haaland. All of their signings, especially the relatively expensive Ferran Torres one from City, seem to point to the fact that La Blaugrana know they cannot afford the package for Haaland. They have instead went for more budget-friendly options to fortify their overall squad.
You never know, though, with loans and if LaLiga decide to relax things so that Barcelona have someone to compete with Mbappe to reignite a profitable rivalry for a struggling league. Plus, there is the Mino Raiola factor. He is friends with Joan Laporta and may be quietly pushing for Haaland to join Barça as a favor.
There are a lot of “What ifs?” and Barça is a historic club. So some Madridistas are still cautiously eyeing Laporta’s club.
If Haaland joins City, that means he will not be a rival for Real Madrid. Not only would that be good for the present, but also for the future. If Haaland were to join Barça, would he ever play for Real? He could, but not immediately afterward…At least with City, there would even be a chance that he could be sold directly to Real without too much trouble. As we saw with Torres’ sale to Barcelona, City do not usually stand in the way of players who want to live, much like Los Blancos.