Haaland-Borussia cold war

Mino Raiola and papa Haaland's round of contacts on Holy Thursday in Barcelona and Madrid, meeting with representatives of Barça and Real Madrid To exchange views on the interest of both in trying to sign the Norwegian this summer, it was not the starting signal for an operation that in the next market could be forged or not; This beginning took place on Wednesday, when Raiola and Haaland's father met Michael Zorc, Borussia Dortmund sporting director. A meeting to put the cards on the table.

At this meeting, Raiola conveyed to Borussia Haaland's desire to grow in a top-level European team; after a little less than a season and a half in Germany, the feeling of the striker and his surroundings is that Dortmund is too small for him and that he has the capacity to lead a larger project. Zorc, for his part, was clear about Borussia's position: there is no way he will negotiate a transfer this summer., the agreement between the parties was to open this option in 2022 (a verbal agreement, not signed in any contract) and only then will it be priced. Lately the figure of 180 million euros has emerged as a possible price for this summer, but it is a very high, symbolic amount, which represents Borussia's refusal to sell.

After the meeting and after Raiola and Haaland's father were hunted in Barcelona and Madrid on Thursday, Zorc came out to assess said 'lightning trip' the agent and the progenitor of the battering ram and publicly conveyed the BVB's position; He did not explain what it was, but it is not difficult to intuit it either: “I spoke with Raiola yesterday, we made our intentions very clear to him.” As AS learned, at that meeting Raiola accepted Dortmund's position, but the German club knows that this attitude has an expiration date.. Haaland's trip to Spain is a declaration of intent and Borussia knows that the Italian agent will repeat his attempt soon. Above all, and this is very important, if the Teutonic team does not achieve access to the Champions League.

The Champions, key for Haaland and Borussia

If Haaland is standing out for something on the European scene, it is because of his achievements in the Champions League: he has 20 goals in 14 games in the first continental tournament, with just 20 years. At his age, Cristiano barely had a goal in the Champions League, and not even in the final phase of the tournament; It was in the previous phase, with Manchester against the Hungarian Debrecen. The forward knows that playing in the European Cup is essential to continue his progression to the first level, and at this moment the Champions League is not something that Dortmund has assured for next year, far from it: at this moment he is fifth, four points behind Frankfurt, which closes the Champions zone. To be in the next edition he must enter the top four or be champion in this edition, a complicated task: he has Manchester City as a rival in the quarterfinals.

Because, at Borussia they take for granted that if the goal of entering the Champions League is not reached, Raiola will return to the charge with full force, also knowing that the absence of income from the European Cup would in part force Dortmund to make money with a large transfer. In that situation, there are two candidates: a Haaland that is the most sought-after piece in the world at this time (along with Mbappé) and a Jadon Sancho that is trading down. A sort of Cold War between Borussia and Haaland in which both signed an armistice on Wednesday, one part flagrantly broke it on Thursday and the only existing guarantee is that this is just the beginning.