Haaland, at an exorbitant price

Haaland costs 200 million euros this summer. This is the dissuasive price that Borussia has given to the main players in the market, as AS has learned, if any team wants to take over the striker. An unattainable figure for any club, including Madrid, to which we must add another handful of millions in commissions … The reality, according to the information this newspaper has had access to, is that Dortmund have decided not to sell their star and wait for 2022. And the reason is surprising: they think it is It is essential to have Haaland in the team “to get people back to the stadium.”

It is a strategic question. Borussia could make Haaland profitable in a spectacular way if it sells him this summer. It is obvious that € 200M is a non-market price, but any figure that approached 150 million (the player, who is the top scorer at the moment, is only 20 years old), would leave a historical surplus in the box of the German entity . Dortmund only paid 20 million euros for Haaland to Salzburg (plus 23 in commissions, eight to the father and 15 to his agent, Mino Raiola).

That very advantageous price was set on the basis that Borussia should facilitate the departure of the forward in the summer of 2022. From the footballer's environment they assure that there is no fixed amount agreed for his departure, but it did transpire that it would be around 75 million of euros. If Dortmund sold Haaland now without waiting for 2022, it would make a big capital gain. But they put accounts in the offices, they tell us, about the money that Borussia would lose without their goals: they would not go that far in the next edition of the Champions League, they would probably have difficulties to qualify for Europe (as happened this season even with him in the template) and, above all, it would have a great image cost for its social mass at a vital moment.

At Borussia they are certain that regardless of the removal of restrictions on access to stadium fans, it will take a lot of work to fill them again. The pandemic, they say, will make that influx gradually recover. “And Haaland will surely help to maintain the income that is generated in each game and that is vital.” Before the pandemic, Signal Iduna Park was the stadium with the highest average attendance in the Bundesliga, 81,500 per game, a veritable mine of gold. This strategy leaves the Norwegian striker very satisfied, whose dream is to wear the Madrid shirt. In this way, he could continue training at Dortmund and secure the transfer to the Bernabéu later on at a reasonable price.

In reality, that Borussia does not want to sell Haaland this summer is also a relief for Madrid, whose priority for this market is to try to sign Mbappé (if PSG agrees to negotiate).

Madrid aspires to negotiate.

Only in that case, in which Mbappé does not come to Real Madrid this summer, does Madrid aspire to negotiate for Haaland. Florentino Pérez will then assert the great friendship he has with the Borussian CEO, Hans Joaquim Watzke, to agree on an acceptable price for the white club (much less 200 million) and also devise a formula that would make the operation feasible. There are several ways to bring it to fruition. The exchange of footballers is one way (Borussia has always been interested in players from the Madrid squad, Achraf and Reinier are the last two cases). Another is to do the operation now, but to agree on future payments, when the prepandemic income has been definitively established.

That Borussia Dortmund qualified for the next edition of the Champions League was a relief for Haaland, who for a moment saw his dream of playing for Madrid in jeopardy. Without that European showcase, the player would have had to force his exit. The player's representative, Mino Raiola, made it clear how the situation is in a recent interview on AS: “If Real Madrid can afford Haaland, I don't know, because I didn't study his finances. But I believe yes. I think everyone can afford it. But the question is another: can Madrid afford not to buy Haaland? There will only be one chance to sign him ”. The agent is, perhaps, the most important piece in the operation. And, although he acknowledged Borussia's refusal to sell it, he also pointed out: “What we know today is that Dortmund spoke very seriously with us and said: 'We-don't-see-we'. That is their official demeanor. But I have another position, I think that if a good opportunity presents itself and everyone is happy, we will put it on the table ”.