Erling Haaland has spent the summer winking at Real Madrid. The Norwegian superstar striker helped lead his team to the World Cup quarterfinals, eliminating Vinicius Junior's Brazil with a brace before then being eliminated by England via a brace from his former Borussia Dortmund teammate Jude Bellingham.
The Norwegian No. 9 has been full of praise for both Bellingham and Vinicius, sharing kind words with the latter and an embrace while making sure the whole world knows how great of a midfielder Jude is. All the while, both Haaland's father and Fabrizio Romano have told Madridistas not to give up on Haaland still potentially moving to the Santiago Bernabeu in the future.
While the main Galactico linked to Real Madrid this summer has been Michael Olise, whose budding relationship with Kylian Mbappe on the French national team has given Florentino Perez the potential opening he needs to swoop in, the left footed right winger would cost 200 million euros or more - which would make him more expensive than a future Haaland signing, especially if Haaland really does have a hidden Madrid clause in his contract with Manchester City.
Erling Haaland is flying standby
Right now, an Erling Haaland transfer is not feasible for Real Madrid because of Mbappe's presence. Despite Mbappe's horrendous 2025/26 season and his public outbursts against the manager and overall petulant attitude, Florentino is fully backing his splash 2024 signing, with Jose Mourinho set to come in not necessarily to set Mbappe straight but to work with all the big names in the Madrid attack.
While Mbappe seemed to flip the negative narrative with a lot of goals and great leadership for France at the World Cup, that was all turned on its head again. Mbappe was horrible against Pedro Porro, Marc Cucurella, and the Spanish national team defense as Les Bleus were blanked 2-0 by the reigning European Champions.
Whereas Haaland stood out in the big games, particularly against Brazil, France finally faced a tough opponent, and against another stingy defense, Mbappe did nothing. He created no chances for others and wasted great positions for France, offering no real threat to the Spanish goalkeeper.
Mbappe has to be afraid. No matter who you are at Real Madrid, if you do not perform and make good on your wages and the spot you have, you will be replaced. Even the biggest legends of Real Madrid all left at some point, and if Florentino Perez was willing to move on from Cristiano Ronaldo just before his prime ended in order to build for the future, than underperforming Mbappe is not untouchable. If he struggles in these big games for Madrid next season, Haaland will be on standby.
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