Real Madrid Transfers: It’s not now or never for Erling Haaland
As the Erling Haaland transfer saga rolls on, Real Madrid fans have been hotly debating both the chances of their beloved club signing the Dortmund star and whether or not the financial investment is worth it.
There are valid arguments to be made on both sides. Haaland is expensive and maybe a few people are still concerned about the injuries this season, but he is also a generational talent. If you have the chance to sign a superstar for a 75 million euro release clause, you take it, right? Well…do you take it if you already have a superstar coming for free, have two more superstars on the team, and have needs elsewhere?
It’s tough, but there is one point that I do not think is valid. With all due respect to the iconic Guti. If Real Madrid do not sign Erling Haaland in the summer 2022 transfer window, it is not over for Los Blancos. This is not a “now or never” case like it was with Kylian Mbappe.
Haaland can choose to sign with Manchester City, and not only would that be a respectable decision, but it would also be OK for Real.
It might be better for Real Madrid to sign Erling Haaland later than sooner
On some level, yes, it would hurt to “lose” out on a superstar. But considering the commissions for Haaland could reach close to his release clause with Dortmund, Real would be saving a lot of money. They would save money on his wages, too, and they would not have to worry about juggling Mbappe’s inclusion with Vinicius Jr. and Karim Benzema. Further, they would readily spend the money they have left over on other players who can help the project centered around Mbappe, such as fellow Ligue 1 star Aurelien Tchouameni.
But the main thing is that Haaland can join Real Madrid later. It may even be preferable for him to join Real later. Cristiano Ronaldo went from Manchester United to Real Madrid. Kylian Mbappe is going from PSG to Los Merengues. Eden Hazard has not been a successful transfer, sure, but the point remains that he is a superstar who went from a major club in Chelsea to Real.
There is precedent for Real Madrid signing superstars entering their peaks from already-established clubs. And it is already clear that Manchester City would not stand in the way of Haaland joining Real at a later date. In order to sign him now, they may even have to put that in writing to guarantee to Haaland that they would let him one day pursue his dream of playing at the Bernabeu.
And that “one day” may be a better day for Haaland. He would not have to juggle minutes with Karim Benzema. Jan Aage Fjortoft is right. Haaland is not someone you can just have sitting on the bench for a year. He and Benzema could absolutely co-exist, but it would be more preferable for him to be the unquestioned striker on a team.
dark. Next. A dream transfer target from every UCL side
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Haaland to Real Madrid feels like an inevitability. But it does not feel imminent. If he does go to City, Real can spend that money elsewhere and await his pending arrival in a few more seasons, perhaps when they have even more of a sample size of Haaland’s injury risk and get an even more developed No. 9 at the Bernabeu. To some Madridistas, it seems like waiting for Haaland in a few years after he wins trophies with City is the better outcome, as opposed to getting him for a few years now and then giving him up to, say, City in his peak.