‘Erling Haaland only good enough for Real Madrid bench,’ claims Perez

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:46 CDT
• 3 min read

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has claimed that new Manchester City signing Erling Haaland would only make the bench for the Champions League winners.

Haaland was one of Europe’s most-coveted strikers before City matched the release fee of €60 million that was written into his Borussia Dortmund contract. He will join up with Pep Guardiola’s side for pre-season training and is expected to be a major factor in the Premier League title race next season.

These expectations come from the fact that he scored 86 goals in 89 appearances for BVB, and though he was beset by worrying injury issues last term, he has well deserved his reputation as being one of the brightest young footballers in the world game.

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Why did Real Madrid not sign Haaland?

For Perez, though, Haaland would not start for Real Madrid, who are bristling with talent in the No.9 role thanks to the presence of the in-form Karim Benzema.

Discussing why Los Blancos were not more of a presence in the race to sign Haaland, the president told El Chiringuito: “Mbappe deal didn’t create any problem with Haaland deal, absolutely not. We have Benzema, so it was impossible to have him with Karim. We can’t sign Haaland to stay on the bench. Haaland is an amazing, fantastic player.”

Indeed, Real Madrid missed out on Mbappe earlier this summer, with the PSG frontman electing to sign a new three-year contract to remain in Paris as opposed to making a transfer to the Bernabeu, which had been considered virtually a formality. It was a decision that rocked the Spanish side.

Benzema’s form, though, was comfort to them, particularly as it played a crucial role in Madrid securing a record-extending 14th Champions League title. At the age of 34, the France international enjoyed the most prolific season of his career, scoring 44 goals in 46 matches and creating another 15.

Instead of strengthening in attack, meanwhile, Real Madrid have been active participants in the transfer market in midfield, where they have armed themselves with the €100m arrival of Aurelien Tchouameni from Monaco.