Why Madrid have landed ‘decisive’ blow to Man Utd and Chelsea over Haaland

Robin Bairner

19 Feb 2022 02:58 CST
3 min read

Erling Haaland, Borussia Dortmund, 2021/22 — © ProShots

Real Madrid are closing in on a deal that will see Erling Haaland move to the Bernabeu from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.

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Haaland’s case has dominated the football transfer news agenda for months, with the Norway international’s release clause, which comes into effect this summer, set to provide whichever team signs him, with a bargain transfer.

All of Europe’s leading sides have taken an interest in his case, and though some, such as Bayern Munich, have ruled themselves out for financial reasons, there is expected to be a clamour.

Real Madrid have taken a major step towards securing Haaland, according to Sport, which is traditionally a pro-Barcelona newspaper.

It reports that Haaland has ‘ruled out’ playing in the Premier League, where he has been primarily coveted by the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City.

Erling Haaland celebrates scoring for Dortmund against Freiburg — © ProShots

The striker is known to have a love of Spain and has property in the country, where he spends a good deal of his downtime. A switch to Real Madrid or Barcelona, therefore, makes sense from that perspective.

Indeed, Sport even suggests that Manchester City have long known about Haaland’s desire to play in La Liga.

Madrid-Barca war for Haaland

What this means is that the race for Haaland has boiled down to a battle between Barcelona and Madrid for the star forward.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is said to have studied the case closely and believes his side have an advantage over their rivals because of their ability to pay greater wages. Barcelona, though, will not give up their plans to sign the 21-year-old striker.

The Premier League clubs, though, are unlikely to admit defeat in this case. With Barcelona struggling to be competitive at the top level and Real Madrid trailing 1-0 in their Champions League last-16 match with Paris Saint-Germain, there remain questions over the competitiveness of the pair at the very top level of the game.

Read more about: La Liga, Bundesliga, Premier League, Chelsea, Dortmund, Man Utd, Real Madrid, Erling Haaland