Erling Haaland is Real Madrid’s top transfer priority in 2024, and they are prepared to pay up to €240 million on him as operation Haaland now starts.
Haaland had pondered moving to Real after leaving Borussia Dortmund last summer, but he ultimately signed a €60 million deal with Man City after the English champions defeated their Spanish counterparts using a points system that he and his father came up with.
Karim Benzema, a Frenchman who scored 44 goals in 46 games across all competitions for Real last season as they won La Liga and the Champions League and went on to win the October Ballon d’Or, was happy to be their No. 9 player.
However, Benzema has been hampered by injury this season, missing 13 games overall. His production has also decreased, compared to Haaland’s 42 goals from just 37 games with City.
And now, according to Diario AS, Madrid is prepared to go above and beyond to claim Haaland as their own.
“Operation Haaland”:
Real Madrid has restarted “Operation Haaland” and now views him as their top target for 2024, regardless of whether Kylian Mbappe signs with them or not, they claim in their article.
As to AS’ own estimates, his price tag is in the range of €220 and €240 million.
Even though Haaland’s transfer would break the €222 million record set by Neymar in 2017 for Barcelona, Real could probably afford it, according to AS.
The report continues, “The club will have chalked off a huge percentage of the current wage bill for the summer of 2024, when Mbappe is a free agent and Haaland moves closer.
“Benzema, [Luka] Modric, [Eden] Hazard, and perhaps even [Toni] Kroos won’t be at the club after this. Together, the four of them will help Madrid save more than €50 million.”
Real might potentially be facing a serious issue with their assault after Benzema. While one of his potential successors, Endrick, is struggling with Palmeiras, world-class strikers are hard to come by.
When the Brazilian prodigy turns 18 and Real agreed to a €72 million deal, they will bring him to the Santiago Bernabeu, but he has gone 12 games without scoring for his team.
