Real Madrid to decide between Mbappe or Haaland next summer

4:00pm on Saturday 17th October 2020
By Martin Macdonald

Real Madrid will decide to sign either Kylian Mbappe or Erling Haaland next summer, according to Marca.

The current pandemic has hit Spanish football hard financially, and led Real Madrid to completing no significant signings in the summer which is almost unprecedented under president Florentino Perez, the leader of the 'Galactico' era.

However, the champions have big plans for next summer, and are looking to recruit a world-class starting forward.

Mbappe has long been tipped to make the move to the Santiago Bernabeu due to him being a fan of the club as a child, while he previously had his picture taken with Cristiano Ronaldo when the Portuguese played for the club.

Kylian Mbappe 'informs PSG that he wants to leave in 2021'

How Erling Haaland developed his own trademark finish

Zinedine Zidane, a mentor of sorts to Mbappe, previously claimed it was the player's dream to play for Real Madrid, saying:

"I don't know, it's the player who decides. At the moment he plays for Paris Saint-Germain, we'll see in the future if that changes. I know he always said his dream is to play for Real Madrid."

For now, he is still successfully plying his trade at PSG after his huge €145m transfer from Monaco a couple of years ago.

Due to the amount PSG initially paid for Mbappe, any fee proposed by Real Madrid would need to dwarf the outlay from the French side to land him from Monaco.

A young Mbappe and his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo

Should Real Madrid be frustrated in their pursuit of Mbappe, though, they will target Haaland of Dortmund, who burst onto the European scene last season with his exploits for RB Salzburg before moving to the German outfit in January.

In the 2019/20 season over both teams, he scored 44 club goals.

Marca reports that Haaland could be a better option for Real Madrid than Mbappe due to the fact they are desperate to sign a new number 9 - a conventional centre forward, as the latter is more suited out wide.

Haaland also enjoys a close friendship with current Madrid star Martin Odegaard, which would play in his favour.

officialfootballcritic

Follow @criticfootball_