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REAL MADRID

The secret pact for Haaland

Haaland's agent, Mino Raiola, and Borussia Dortmund have a verbal agreement in which the German club agreed to facilitate the player's departure in 2022.

The secret pact for Haaland
INA FASSBENDERAFP

Real Madrid's operation to sign Erlind Haaland will depend largely on a secret pact between Borussia Dortmund and the player’s agent, Mino Raiola, which was reached when the forward's transfer from RB Salzburg was closed last season.

It was a verbal agreement (nothing was signed) in which the German club agreed to facilitate the player's departure in 2022. This pact was the main reason why Dortmund were able to sign the Norweigan star for a bargain price of €20 million (plus €23 million paid in commissions to his representatives -- €8 million to his father and €15 million to Raiola).

Raiola usually includes such clauses for players on his books that he is confident he can profit from later. He did something similar with Paul Pogba back in 2012, when the French midfielder was just 18 years old and was playing in the lower categories at United. Raiola managed to secure Pogba’s free transfer to Juve when his contract at Old Trafford ended. It was a great deal for the Italians, who would later sell him back to United for €105 million.

And Raiola, of course, made sure to cash in on the favour by taking a substantial share of the pie when he resigned for United. We learned from the Football Leaks revelations that the Italian agent pocketed a staggering 45 million pounds from the deal.

Raiola’s roadmap for Haaland leads to Madrid

It remains to be known if financial figures have been spoken about in this pact between Raiola and Dortmund, but the German club assures AS that nothing has been signed in advance.

The only certain thing is that Raiola has a clear interest in ensuring Haaland ends up at Real Madrid after he has cemented his position as one of the world’s best footballers at Dortmund over three seasons.

That is the roadmap that the superagent has set out for the Norwegian. And that interest is reciprocated by Madrid, where they are keenly aware that the contract of Karim Benzema, the undisputed number nine at the club since 2009, ends in 2022.