Haaland’s Man City relationship growing frosty as Real Madrid interest persists

Robin Bairner

• 30 Oct 2022 10:22 GMT
• 3 min read

Erling Haaland’s honeymoon period at Manchester City is over, according to several reports, which indicate that there is a frosty relationship between the Norway international and the club.

Haaland has made a recover-breaking start in the Premier League since completing a move from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, scoring 22 times in 16 outings for Pep Guardiola’s side.

There is, however, a suggestion that all is not well – and that Real Madrid stand to benefit.

MORE: Real Madrid to sign Bellingham in 2023, Haaland in 2024

This all stems back to the initial contract that Haaland signed with Man City. It is reported by OKDiario among other sources that in this deal, the late agent Mino Raiola, who was Haaland’s representative, insisted on putting in a minimum fee release clause of €200 million.

The clause will reportedly be active from 2024 and will only apply to clubs outside of the Premier League.

Given Haaland’s superb start to life at the club, Man City have tried to eradicate this by offering the 22-year-old a new contract that would approach the figure in Kylian Mbappe’s PSG deal, which is reportedly the biggest in the history of sport.

Haaland, though, has turned down the offer, causing consternation at City.

Haaland gives Premier League rivals hope as he finally shows a weakness

Does Haaland really have a release clause?

The details of Haaland’s Manchester City contract are, of course, private. There are two or three pieces of evidence that suggest there is a release clause in the deal, though.

Firstly, Raiola managed to negotiate such an exit route in the striker’s Borussia Dortmund agreement, which allowed him to leave for Man City at a bargain price.

Secondly, the Haaland camp have never suggested that the player’s stop at the Etihad will be for anything more than two or three years. Indeed, the player’s father, Alfie, who played for City himself, has suggested that Erling could have a nomadic career in which he conquerors all of Europe’s biggest leagues.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, are thought to be watching all of this intently, with Haaland said to be their preferred option to replace Karim Benzema in 2024 – perfectly coinciding with the year his release clause comes into force.