While Real Madrid's pursuit of Kylian Mbappe has taken center stage over the past few weeks, with the links amplifying due to the PSG ace's recent run-in with Los Blancos in the UEFA Champions League, the Spanish giants still hold tremendous interest in world football's other hottest young player, Erling Haaland.
In fact, according to Spanish publication Sport, Florentino Perez's side are preparing a final bid for the Norwegian in an attempt to beat bitter rivals Barcelona to the striker's signature. Talks have allegedly taken place already, with the Dortmund superstar's representatives having sat down with the Liga heavyweights.
Mino Raiola is also said to have been present at this Monaco meeting. The former RB Salzburg forward is currently out of the UEFA Champions League after failing to guide his team past the group stage and is recovering from an injury, hence his absence from BVB's recent loss to Rangers in the UEFA Europa League. Nonetheless, his stocks remain high, and understandably so, given his out-of-this-world goalscorng record with the Bundesliga giants, having netted 56 times in 57 outings.
Unfortunately, Real Madrid are not alone in this race. Barcelona are ready to go all out for the striker, with the Blaugrana preparing an extensive package that will make him both the main man and the highest-paid player at the Camp Nou. Additionally, Premier League clubs are closely monitoring the situation, namely Manchester City, as the Cityzens look to reignite their search for a no.9 this summer.
At this moment in time, however, all roads point to one of two destinations: Los Merengues or the Catalan giants. Marca go into greater detail in a separate report, claiming that Haaland has been made aware of the role he'll play in either team. Barcelona aren't in the greatest of financial situations and as a result, it remains uncertain whether the club can pull off this deal – La Liga president Javier Tebas doubts it. Regardless, Camp Nou president Joan Laporta has made the Norwegian priority number one and has informed the technical team that they must bring the player to Catalonia at all cost.
What about Kylian Mbappe? Marca go on to add that the acquisition of the French superstar, which grows likelier by the day due to his expiring contract, would not necessarily spell the end of their Haaland pursuit. Time will tell if Perez can bring both men to the Bernabeu as that would be a nightmare for their domestic and continental rivals.
