Erling Haaland could join Real Madrid—“maybe”—after his father didn’t rule out the idea when asked about the Manchester City striker’s club future.
Haaland, who has the world at his feet this summer after Norway created national history by reaching the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time, is “happy” playing in England right now. But it seems to be a case of never say never as far as Madrid is concerned.
“I don’t want to talk much about the options at other clubs. He’s very happy at Manchester City, he has a long contract, and we’re looking forward to the new season,” Alf-Inge Haaland told reporters at Norway’s World Cup 2–1 win over Brazil, in which his son scored both goals.
Haaland signed that contract until 2034. But the almost 26-year-old phenom has never shied away from moving clubs to the betterment of his career and ambition, and the sudden departure of manager Pep Guardiola at the end of 2025–26 has at least raised questions. The other issue is what happens to the club when there is finally a ruling on the 115 Premier League charges against them?
Real Madrid presidential candidate Enrique Riquelme vowed to recruit Haaland had he won last month’s ballot. Haaland Sr. denied the idea that his son was actively ready to sign with Los Blancos at that moment and Manchester City even considered legal action.
But even though Riquelme lost and Haaland is staying with City for now, it’s not off the table.
“Everyone wants to play for Real Madrid and win the Champions League. Would I like to see him at Real Madrid? Maybe, maybe,” the father added, reverting to a common tactic within elite-level soccer of never closing a single door.
“There’s always an opportunity in football, there are fantastic clubs in Spain and you never know, but right now he’s happy in England.”
Real Madrid Would Have to Make Significant Room for Haaland
Haaland couldn’t join Real Madrid right now. Aside from the enormity of the cost, adding him into a team that is already bursting at the seams to contain Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior just wouldn’t work. Within a one-striker system on which incoming manager José Mourinho has built a career, the Norwegian would occupy the same position as Mbappé, so it would probably require the Frenchman to move to the right wing—where he started his career, but is hugely unlikely—or leave.
The alternative from a tactical perspective is that Haaland and Mbappé play alongside each other in a 4-4-2. In that scenario, Vinícius Jr might also have a role in a worryingly top-heavy setup. The latter is the easiest to sacrifice given that his contract expires in 2027 and he could be sold this summer. Even then, whether Haaland and Mbappé could actually co-exist would still be a doubt.
It is telling how little Real Madrid actually won during the first and second Galácticos generations, during which recruiting individual superstars was prioritized over team success. In more recent years, Paris Saint-Germain are a prime example of what shedding headline names—Mbappé, Neymar, Lionel Messi—does to promote better unity and cohesiveness, and ultimately deliver success.
Once David Beckham completed the original Galácticos lineup in 2003, Real Madrid won only one Spanish Super Cup—within the first two months—until the Englishman’s final season in 2006–07. By then, Ronaldo Nazário, Zinedine Zidane and Luís Figo had already left.
When Florentino Pérez returned to office in 2009 and kickstarted Galácticos 2.0 by breaking the transfer world record twice in one summer to sign Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo, the club won La Liga and the Champions League only once each in the first six years. Kaká was gone by 2013 and the dynasty that followed was built on less glamorous—but still world class—players like Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Luka Modrić, Dani Carvajal and Marcelo, as much as Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema.
What Haaland Gains From Man City Loyalty
Were Real Madrid to sacrifice Mbappé to sign Haaland, it could be interesting. Despite putting up incredible numbers, Mbappé hasn’t been a massive success in the eyes of fans, getting on the wrong side of supporters amid perceptions about his attitude and his time at the club so far coinciding with two trophyless seasons and a shocking descent into internal chaos.
Mbappé has a contract at the Bernabéu until 2029, so he isn’t tied to Real forever.
But immortality awaits Haaland if he stays with Manchester City.
The Norwegian is already fourth among the club’s all-time top scorers, with 162 goals in his first four seasons and only 98 behind leader and City legend Sergio Agüero (260). Just two more seasons at his current level and Haaland would be challenging that record.
In the Premier League alone, Haaland has scored 112 times. He is the competition’s fastest player to reach a century of goals, needing only 111 games to do it. Alan Shearer’s record is 260, a way off but certainly reachable if Haaland, at his current average, stays for at least five more years.
What could harm things—and maybe speed up a hypothetical exit—is if possible sanctions against Manchester City result in expulsion from the Premier League, or a points deduction so large—potentially 60 points—it makes relegation a near certainty.
Juventus managed to convince several big names to stick around after their enforced relegation from Serie A as a result of Italy’s 2006 calciopoli scandal. But Alessandro del Piero, David Trezeguet and Pavel Nedvěd were notably older than Haaland is now. Much more comparable is striker Zlatan Ibrahimović, who was coming up to his 25th birthday at the time and jumped ship.
