Erling Braut Haaland is already a brilliant footballer and he’s only going to get better.
The fastest player to 20 Champions League goals [note: he surpassed Harry Kane’s 24
games by 10 games] is going to leave Dortmund soon, but where will he go?
This is time-sensitive.
Haaland’s release clause of a reported 75 million Euros will become active in June 2022,
but should Dortmund fail to qualify for the Champions League, that could speed things up.
However, the backdrop to this is football’s new economic reality:
the pandemic has seen the revenue of all big clubs drop and that narrows the immediate options.
In the first instance, though, why are clubs so interested in Haaland?
Well, because he’s brilliant. He’s averaged a goal a game or more since leaving Molde
for RB Salzburg and this season only three players have more goals plus assists per 90.
Although his goals draw the most attention, Haaland has also developed other facets of
his game. In addition, he functions well as a target man, has excellent penalty box awareness,
and has become a good provider for his teammates.
In short, he’s a complete striker who will only get better.
Haaland’s agent, Mino Raiola, told the BBC “Only a maximum of 10 clubs can afford to buy him…and
four of those clubs are in your beautiful country”, that is, in the Premier League.
Assuming the move happens this summer,
it’s highly unlikely that either Real Madrid or Barcelona would actually be on that list.
Although newly elected president Joan Laporta has suggested he would make
signing Haaland a priority, Barcelona have an already bloated squad on massive wages
– they have debts reportedly in excess of €1bn.
Real Madrid desperately need a new striker to assume Benzema’s mantel but, again, the club is
suffering from low revenues and high expenditure. Otherwise, this move makes total sense: Haaland is
a superstar with career longevity, has the sort of competitive streak that would suit Real’s
more combative image and Zidane’s team play a more direct style of football than Barcelona.
But do they have the funds? Without significant restructuring of the playing squad,
it’s very hard to see this one happening.
We can dispense with a few other clubs, too.
Chelsea have spent heavily on attacking players and while they might have the resources,
the rest of the team probably needs more investment first.
Liverpool are habitually cautious in the market and even when they do spend heavily,
they prefer to avoid bidding wars and auctions. Klopp’s centre forward needs to be more of a link
player, too: Haaland is good enough to excel in that team, but Liverpool have probably identified
players more suited to Klopp’s 4-3-3 who are also available for less.
Juventus would love to take Haaland: Cristiano Ronaldo, while still Juventus’ top scorer, is 36
and a long-term replacement is needed; Juventus also play with two strikers,
so Haaland could slot in pretty easily. But the club have stuttered under new
manager Andrea Pirlo and this feels like a move Haaland would avoid because of the
uncertainty around the club’s management and long-term success at European level.
That leaves Bayern Munich, PSG, and the two Manchester clubs.
Bayern still have Robert Lewandowski, who shows no signs of slowing up, and have played with one
striker under successive managers. Dortmund would also presumably seek to frustrate such a move,
and Haaland might also feel some loyalty to the club that afforded him the opportunity to excel.
But Hansi Flick is known to be an admirer, and staying in a league that Haaland knows well,
at a club that will regularly challenge for the Champions League, would be in Bayern’s favour.
PSG is an intriguing prospect, not least because the other great young player in world football is
already there. But that could be a sticking point: Ronaldo and Messi never played in the same team,
and would either Mbappe or Haaland want to not be the sole star of their side?
And if Mbappe leaves, would Haaland want to be his replacement?
From a footballing perspective, though, this move makes a lot of sense.
Haaland can function as a focal point, but his link-up play is underrated and he could form a
devastatingly fluid front three with Mbappe and Neymar. PSG also like to draw sides forwards
then hit the space between their defence and midfield in transition, and Haaland would
thrive in that set-up, especially alongside the pace and dribbling ability of Neymar and Mbappe.
It’s a frightening thought but it’s not that likely to be realised.
That leaves Manchester United and Manchester City.
A straight shoot-out between rivals feels like potentially the transfer saga of the summer.
Both have the finances to make the deal work. And both make a compelling case.
United have heritage, a manager that Haaland knows from his time at Molde,
and play a counter-attacking 4-2-3-1 that is probably the closest stylistic
fit to Dortmund’s shape and approach in the Premier League.
Haaland’s agent, Raiola, has had difficulties with United before,
specifically in relation to Paul Pogba, but if the midfielder does leave,
bringing in Haaland could be a nice trade-off that suits all parties.
United are reportedly confident that the long-standing animus with Haaland’s father,
Alfie-Inge, which stems from a Roy Keane tackle he suffered whilst playing for Manchester City,
would not be any sort of factor either.
But City’s own interest very much would be a factor. Pep Guardiola is a natural attraction,
so too is the annual contention in the Champions League.
They can also surround Haaland with some of the most inventive players in European football
and the prospect of being supplied by Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and
Phil Foden would surely appeal to Haaland, who also grew up as a Manchester City fan.
Both clubs need a striker. City need a replacement for Sergio Aguero at a level above what Gabriel
Jesus has so far offered, while United may be forging Mason Greenwood into a very good
number nine, but need an elite centre forward with a better age profile than Edinson Cavani,
who seems likely to return to South America at the end of the season.
The Premier League therefore makes sense for Haaland as a destination, and the two Manchester
clubs will probably be vying for his signature. It’s probably fitting that one of the players
likely to be part of the next great footballing rivalry (Design note: Show Kylian Mbappe) could
find himself at the heart of another of the game’s great rivalries this summer.