Haaland: Dortmund confirm Real Madrid interest in striker

Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has confirmed one of the football transfer market’s worst-kept secrets: Real Madrid are interested in signing Norway striker Erling Haaland from the Bundesliga club. While Florentino Pérez has been fairly vocal about the Liga giants’ intentions towards Kylian Mbappé – much to the chagrin of PSG sporting director Leonardo, who is attempting to persuade the France star to remain at the Parc des Princes – Madrid have not made any public statement regarding a move for the in-demand Haaland.

Real Madrid interested in Haaland, but Dortmund hopeful

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However, Watzke appeared to concede that Madrid have made their interest in Haaland plain to Dortmund, if not public. “Wherever you go, everybody is talking about Erling Haaland. The only thing I know with any certainty is that Real Madrid are very interested in him. And I can name another 25 clubs too. It could be that he leaves and it could be that he stays. A few days ago, I had a good conversation with Mino Raiola. It was a friendly chat. Doubtless we will speak again in the coming weeks. The main thing is in Haaland’s general development. The same as Lewandowski, I would love to be proud of Erling if one day he wins the Champions League. Personally, I think it would be good for him to remain in the Bundesliga for a while longer, but Raiola is a smart lad and knows what he’s doing.”

Raiola recently confirmed to AS that Haaland does not have a release clause at Dortmund, despite reports that the minimum required to trigger talks stood at €75 million. The super-agent also intimated that Haaland would leave Dortmund when a suitable agreement was reached, suggesting there are four clubs in the running for the prolific 21-year-old.

Klopp back to Dortmund?

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Watzke also spoke about the possibility of Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp returning to Dortmund in the future. “[He can come back] whenever he wants, if that is what he wants. But not as a manager, that is obvious. If one day he wants to come back to the BVB family, our doors are open. We still stay in touch. I don’t think we he will be a coach forever. If one day he says: ‘Hey, I’m done coaching, but I’d like to come back to the club to do something,’ then we’ll find something for him, that is for certain. But I would say the likelihood is very low.”