Dilemma of Madrid with Haaland

In just a few weeks, the timing of the Mbappé and Haaland operations has been reversed. Events have altered Real Madrid’s roadmap, who now enters a new waiting period for the French attacker and faces a dilemma with the Norwegian striker. While Kylian’s operation takes time, Erling’s shortens the deadlines…

The Champions is the cause of everything. Mbappé has been free to sign for any club since January 1. A circumstance known for a long time and a date marked in red on the agenda since Madrid could not complete the signing last summer despite the multimillion-dollar offers that it transferred to PSG. The repetition of the chaotic draw for the Champions League, which crossed the whites with the Parisian team in the round of 16, disrupted the plans. A pairing that put Mbappé and Madrid in a commitment and that will force the signing of the commitment between the footballer and the white club to be delayed until at least March, once the tie is over.

At least, With Mbappé, Madrid has many more certainties than with Haaland. The top continental competition has also precipitated events in the situation of the Norwegian. In his case, the elimination of Dortmund. A disappointment that, two years after his arrival at the Rhenish club, separates Haaland from the greatest showcase of club football. And that is also added to the non-classification of Norway for the World Cup in Qatar, consummated a few weeks before. The player was committed to Dortmund until 2024, but reached a verbal agreement, not embodied in the contract, with the aurinegra entity so that from June 2022 it would accept offers for him at a reasonable price, given the forecast already then that his performance and scoring figures could trigger his price on the market, as it has happened.

This gentlemen’s agreement is what makes the operation viable for Real Madrid in the face of opposition from club-states such as Manchester City or PSG, which can bid with unlimited funds. However, the schedule is not the most comfortable for Madrid. With the emergence of Vinicius, the expected arrival of Mbappé and the excellent performance that Benzema maintains at 34 years old (the Frenchman is at the level of the best numbers of his career) the incorporation of the Norwegian would force to reformulate the fit of pieces in the attack White. And the deadlines are shortened, because Haaland himself has recognized that Dortmund is rushing him to decide on his future. “Borussia Dortmund are putting pressure on me to make a decision about some things. That probably means I’ll have to get things going soon,” admitted the Nordic on Friday after scoring a double against Freiburg. After the game on Tuesday, the CEO of Borussia Dortmund, Hans-Joachim Watzke, showed his anger at that insinuation about the club’s ultimatum to Haaland. “Saying that Dortmund would give Haaland an ultimatum is bullshit. There is no deadline,” said the yellow president. In addition, he sent a warning to the rest of the clubs, assuring that they will look for a replacement in the market if the Norwegian decides to leave.

Haaland has begun to make gestures that sound like a farewell. He waved goodbye to the Dortmund fans in the last game of 2021 and during his Christmas holidays on the Costa del Sol he confessed to some fans that he would play in Spain. His signing is in itself a dilemma: now or never.