Real Madrid prepare €240m 'Operation Haaland'

Stuart Telford

• 24 Mar 2023 09:12 CDT
• 3 min read

Real Madrid are ready to spend up to €240 million on Erling Haaland in 2024 with the Manchester City goal-machine now their primary transfer target.

Haaland considered joining Real on leaving Borussia Dortmund last summer, but completed a €60m move to Man City instead, the English champions having edged their Spanish equivalent on a points system devised by the player and his father.

Real were content with Karim Benzema as their No.9 anyway - the Frenchman having scored 44 goals in 46 games in all competitions last season as Real won La Liga and the Champions League, before winning October's Ballon d'Or.

READ: Why Benzema could cause Real Madrid to make Haaland and Mbappe transfers

But injury has impacted Benzema this season, the 35-year-old missing 13 games this term. His output has also slowed while Haaland has plundered 42 goals from just 37 games with City.

And now Diario AS claim Madrid are ready to pull out all the stops to make Haaland theirs.

'Operation Haaland' - and how to find it

"Real Madrid have reactivated 'Operation Haaland' and now consider him their priority signing for 2024, independent of whether Kylian Mbappe arrives or not," they write.

"According to AS' own information, his price tag sits somewhere between €220 and €240 million."

READ: Secret change in Haaland’s contract triggered by Guardiola

Whilst Haaland would be a world record transfer if his move were to surpass the €222m Paris Saint-Germain paid Barcelona for Neymar in 2017, Real could plausibly afford it according to AS.

"For the summer of 2024, when Mbappe is a free agent and Haaland moves closer, the club will have chalked off a huge percentage of the current wage bill," their report continues.

"After this point, Benzema, [Luka] Modric, [Eden] Hazard and possibly even [Toni] Kroos will no longer be at the club. Between the four of them, Madrid will save upwards of €50 million."

Real could also have a pressing problem in attack post-Benzema. World class strikers are thin on the ground while one of his potential successors, Endrick, is struggling with Palmeiras.

Real agreed a €72m deal to bring the Brazilian prodigy to the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer of 2024 when he turns 18, but he has now gone 12 games without a goal for his club.