The battle to sign Erling Haaland is down to a two-horse race with Manchester City and Real Madrid competing for the signing of the Borussia Dortmund forward.
Haaland is wanted by each of Europe’s leading clubs and attainable this summer as a €75m release clause becomes active in his contract, a modest fee for a player who has scored 80 goals in just 79 appearances since moving to Dortmund.
ESPN are reporting that Real Madrid and Manchester City are battling it out to sign the Norway international, with Haaland favouring a move to the Spanish capital.
Real Madrid believe they can finance a deal to sign the 21-year-old this summer, despite the likely arrival of Kylian Mbappe as a free agent from Paris Saint-Germain.
Gareth Bale, Isco and Marcelo are all out of contract in the summer and their exits will free significant room on the Spaniard’s wage bill as Real look to finalise the double signing of the superstar forwards.
However, City’s financial power and status as arguably world football’s best side at present – alongside the presence of Pep Guardiola at the Etihad – make the Premier League side strong suitors.
Manchester United are now understood to be ‘out of the running’, whilst Chelsea‘s interest has ‘waned’ following the signing of Romelu Lukaku last summer.
Bayern Munich retain an interest in Haaland, but a move could hinge on Robert Lewandowski’s future at the Bundesliga champions. Paris Saint-Germain also remain outsiders given the club expect to lose Mbappe to Real Madrid.
Haaland finished as the Champions League’s leading scorer in 2020/21 and is both the fastest player to reach 20 goals in the competition, achieving the feat in just 14 games.
