Haaland sees Manchester City as a stepping stone for Real Madrid

Karan Tejwani

• Updated: 21 Apr 2022 15:44 BST
• 3 min read

Erling Haaland is reportedly set to join Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund this summer which would make the Norwegian the highest-paid player in the Premier League.

The overall cost of the operation could go upwards of £140 million, with that fee including the cost of the transfer as well as payment to his agent and father.

However, there is a belief that Haaland merely sees this transfer as a stepping stone for another move in the future, according to Bild.

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The forward still sees Real Madrid as his dream destination and considers a transfer to them in the future as a possibility.

There was a chance of Haaland moving to the Santiago Bernabeu this season, but the record European champions decided to prioritize the move of Kylian Mbappe.

And with vice-captain Karim Benzema enjoying the best season of his career at Real Madrid, the prospect of Haaland having many chances at Real Madrid next season seemed slim.

Additionally, the overall cost of the transfer has turned many clubs against it – previously in the season, the likes of Manchester United and Bayern Munich were keen, but they’ve been put off by having to deal with agent Mino Raiola and the additional fees on the top of the payment to Dortmund.

Barcelona also seemed like they made Haaland their top priority for the summer transfer window, but their constrained financial situation made it a difficult deal to complete.

That made Pep Guardiola’s team the frontrunners in the race for Haaland, and now a transfer is set to be completed in the coming weeks.

Haaland joined Borussia Dortmund in the winter of 2020 and has scored 82 goals in 85 appearances across all competitions.

In that time, he has only won one trophy – the DFB Pokal at the end of last season – as Dortmund have fallen short to Bayern Munich in the title race.