Erling Haaland waits for Kylian Mbappé and Real Madrid
Karim Benzema’s fine form this season and the huge commission demanded by Mino Raiola and the player’s father have slowed things down.
Erling Haaland is not closing the door on a move to Real Madrid yet. Speaking to sources very close to the player, AS understands the Norwegian striker has not committed himself to Manchester City.
The 21-year-old’s idea is to stay open to the options of City and Madrid until the end of the season. Until Kylian Mbappé has an agreement with Madrid, he will not decide to move to Manchester.
Dortmund are well aware of his imminent exit and have a replacement, although it will be quite the task in trying to replace Haaland. Karim Adeyemi, who was previously linked with FC Barcelona, will join from RB Salzburg. The 20-year-old has scored 21 goals this season, including three in the Champions League.
Dortmund deny Haaland departure
Dortmund continue to deny that Haaland has told them he is leaving. If they were to announce it, it would make the deal for Adeyemi even more expensive.
In addition to Adeyemi, Borussia have two other deals in the pipeline: Nico Schlotterbeck, a 22-year-old centre-back from Freiburg, and Xaver Schlager (24), a midfielder from Wolfsburg, are set to join the club. They plan to spend between €75 and €100 million, in and around the figure they expect to receive for Haaland’s transfer.
If Los Blancos want to go ahead with a deal, he will be ready to join Carlo Ancelotti’s side. Karim Benzema’s fine form this season and the huge commission demanded by Mino Raiola and the player’s father have slowed things down on the Haaland front.
As this newspaper has reported, Madrid have other primary targets. Chelsea defender Antonio Rüdiger could arrive on a free transfer this summer as well as Monaco midfielder Aurélien Tchouameni. PSG are still trying to convince Mbappé to sign a short-term deal. If he reaches an agreement with Madrid, Haaland will give the go-ahead to the City move.
Raiola set for big earner
Much has been written about an alleged release clause, which is set to expire at the end of April, one that Haaland reportedly signed when he arrived at Dortmund in 2019, allowing him to leave in the summer of 2022 for €75 million.
AS consulted Dortmund CEO Hans-Joaquim Watzke about it and he denied it. According to Dortmund, there is only a verbal agreement between the club and Raiola to facilitate Haaland’s departure for a fee of between €75 million and €100 million. Dortmund only paid €20 million to Salzburg plus another €23 million in commission for Haaland. €8 million went to the player’s father and €15 million was paid to Raiola.
Dortmund could have agreed to sell Haaland last summer. Raiola considered it but refused despite the fact that he could have earned more for the transfer. Now it is Raiola and Haaland’s father, Alf-Inge, who are looking to line their pockets with a fee of around €75 million set to be dished out between the pair.