Real Madrid targeting Erling Haaland despite money problems amid Barcelona interest - Paper Round

Real still hoping to sign Haaland Real Madrid still hope to beat Barcelona to the signing of Erling Haaland, according to Spanish newspaper Marca. The 21-year-old Borussia Dortmund striker is wanted by Manchester United, Manchester City, PSG and Chelsea are all interested as well, but Real would like the player to wait another year as they will be overloaded with forwards if they add Kylian Mbappe and Haaland to Karim Benzema.

Ad/> /> TransfersBarcelona target Kessie, Haaland and Isak — Paper RoundYESTERDAY AT 23:05 Paper Round’s view: Haaland is an exceptional player and Mbappe is just as talented — if not more talented. Signing both of them would clearly be a huge financial outlay and that would not be easy to contend with despite football’s continued financial recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Barcelona could exploit the difficulties by making their move, but they are similarly hamstrung. Read the full story Barca could have kept Messi Barcelona’s director of football Mateu Alemany has revealed that the club could have kept Lionel Messi last summer but decided it was not worth the cost.

Alemany hinted that they would have had to agree a tie-up with private equity group CVC in order to raise sufficient funds to keep the Argentine striker, but ultimately they let the player go in order to avoid the setup. /> Paper Round’s view: CVC did what many private equity groups try to do — turn up with huge sums of money when businesses are in distress in the short term, and then enjoy the profits in the long term.

It appears that Barca were able to weigh up the pros and cons of taking such a deal and thought given Messi’s age, that it was not worth committing themselves to a 50-year agreement. Read the full story Liverpool