Manchester City are increasingly likely to sign Erling Haaland this summer; Real's priority this summer is to sign Kylian Mbappe as a free agent when his Paris Saint-Germain contract runs out; PSG will try to sign Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich if Mbappe leaves for Real
Saturday 16 April 2022 12:14, UK
Manchester City are increasingly likely to sign Erling Haaland this summer, especially if Kylian Mbappe moves to Real Madrid.
Pep Guardiola's side have been leading the race to sign Haaland this year and his €75 million release clause means Borussia Dortmund are resigned to losing the striker this summer with their number one target for a replacement Red Bull Salzburg striker Karim Adeyemi.
City's most serious competition for Haaland, who has scored 80 goals in 84 appearances during his time at Borussia Dortmund, has been from Real Madrid.
However, Real's priority this summer is to sign Mbappe as a free agent when his Paris Saint-Germain contract runs out.
PSG are willing to do whatever it takes to convince the France international to sign a new contract but he still has his heart set on moving to Madrid, even though some people close to him have advised him to stay in Paris.
If Mbappe does leave it will make it even more likely that PSG will try to sign Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich.
Lewandowski's representatives will sit down with Bayern Munich to discuss the striker's future in the next few weeks.
Both parties will put their proposals forward in the meeting to determine what the next steps will be for the Poland international.
The meeting is seen as a top priority, and will happen as soon as possible.
Lewandowski's current contract runs out at the end of 2022/2023 season.
The Poland international has scored 47 goals in 41 games in all competitions this season and is currently the top scorer in both the Bundesliga and the Champions League.
In his eight seasons with Bayern, Lewandowski has scored an incredible 341 goals in 370 appearances and is only behind Gerd Muller in their all-time record scorer list.
Could Haaland and Mbappe pick up the baton and dominate world football to the extent Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have for the past decade and beyond?
Sky Sports' Gary Neville is not so sure.
"I don't think Haaland and Mbappe can get anywhere near the levels of Ronaldo and Messi," the former Manchester United defender said.
"Haaland and Mbappe are two young players who are massively talented. They can become the best in the world and achieve great things, but we shouldn't think every new, young superstar will automatically take over from Ronaldo and Messi, who are the kind of players you'd be lucky to see once every 80 years.
"Players like these aren't produced every decade.
"In my time we had Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, the Brazilian Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, world-class players who were absolutely sensational, but even as great as they were, they were not Messi and Ronaldo, who are on another planet."
Meanwhile Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia is expected to remain at the club this summer to oversee the transfer window.
It remains to be seen whether she stays permanently after the club has been sold but the three remaining bidding groups would value her input this summer - even if she stays temporarily as part of a handover process.
Chelsea could still be major players in the window under new owners although much will depend on the future of club record signing Romelu Lukaku.
