Raiola: Haaland ready for best teams in the world
His agent, Mino Raiola, says that he is ready for top European clubs. "Maybe I was too careful with him when I decided to take him to Dortmund."
With half of Europe wanting to secure the services of Erling Haaland, his agent, Mino Raiola, spoke to The Athletic, and hinted at an imminent departure despite the fact that he has a verbal pact with Borussia Dortmund, which would see him stay in Germany until the summer of 2022. Haaland's explosion and the economic crisis across Europe have radically changed the situation.
"Too careful with Haaland"
"Maybe I was too careful with Haaland when I said, 'oh no, let's go to Dortmund first instead of I don't know where,'" said the super-agent about the Norwegian. When Borussia signed him, the best teams in the world, including Real Madrid, had submitted bids. But Raiola understood that Dortmund was the best place for his player to develop. For that reason he devised a generous deal for the Bundesliga outfit, who only had to pay €20 million plus €23 million in commission: €8 million to the player's father and €15 million to Raiola himself. In return, Dortmund are expected to facilitate Haaland's departure in 2022 for a reasonable price (there is nothing signed but there was talk of €75 million).
"This boy - I’m 100 per cent convinced and everybody’s convinced - can move to any club, wherever he wants, already on this level. And he could have done that last year. But maybe last year there were still teams (saying), 'Oh, he was in Red Bull, can he do it in another club?'. He is quicker than his own prediction. So yeah, Haaland is the talk of the town," Raiola told The Athletic.
Bidding war expected for Norwegian's signature
These latest statements show a clear change of plans. Raiola understands that nothing is static in the world of football. The potential problem is that, Dortmund can demand the fee they want if Haaland leaves this summer. The bidding for the No 9 has started at €180 million, according to reports. Not surprisingly, we are talking about one of Europe's best strikers over the next decade.