If there were ever any doubts about Erling Haaland’s ability to deliver the goods in the Premier League, they have dissolved after just his first couple of months in England. The Norwegian has made an incredible start to life at Manchester City and if he continues to perform like this, he might be well on his way to shattering some all-time records. One club who were also linked with a move for Haaland in the summer were Real Madrid.
It is not hard to see why they might have been interested. Despite his unquestionable brilliance, Karim Benzema is 34 years of age now.
On the other hand, Haaland is in his early 20s and could have been the solution for Real Madrid at striker for more than a decade to come.
Ultimately, he ended up joining Manchester City though, although rumours about an eventual move to Santiago Bernabeu have not really gone away. There is one more club though, that was on Haaland’s list ahead of Real Madrid.
Two clubs Haaland wanted to join ahead of Real Madrid
As reported by 90min, his father Alf-Inge is shown saying in Haaland: The Big Decision, released on Scandinavian streaming platform Viaplay:
"“On our list, I think City is the best team.“[Bayern] Munich is number two. We have Real Madrid as number three, Paris Saint-Germain as number four.“We also have some English teams other than City who are quite good… Liverpool and Chelsea. Also, there is Barcelona. They are sort of in the same row.”"
It is safe to say that Haaland ultimately ended up getting his pick of teams in the form of Manchester City, a club that his father had played for during his own playing career and he has made a remarkable start in English football that not many could have seen coming, even keeping his standards in mind.
Of course, this is just the start for Haaland and he will have to deliver trophies if his time at Manchester City is to be considered a success.
Could an eventual move to Real Madrid lie in his future? Who knows! He certainly has everything it takes to be a Galactico.