Erling Haaland release clause: Real Madrid and Man United blow as €75m trigger not active for TWO years

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Ben Hayward21 May 2020

Real Madrid could be forced to wait until 2022 to sign one of their top transfer targets – Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland.

Haaland, who is also interesting Manchester United, opened the scoring for BVB in their 4-0 win over Schalke as the Bundesliga returned on Saturday.

Madrid president Florentino Perez called Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke after the game to congratulate him on his side's successful showing after weeks of inactivity due to coronavirus.

Perez may have been wishing he had paid Haaland's €20 million release clause in January, when he left Red Bull Salzburg for BVB, although that fee was bumped by a further €23m in agent fees.

That still seems cheap, though, especially after 13 goals for the 19-year-old in his first 12 games in yellow and black.

Haaland has an agreement in his contract allowing him to leave the Signal Iduna Park for €75m, but Standard Sport understands that clause will not kick in until 2022.

As that date approaches, Dortmund might be willing to compromise in order to avoid losing the young forward for what will be an extremely low fee for one of Europe's most sought-after players, but they have no need to sell right now.

The youngster's agent, Mino Raiola, has claimed he would like to take one of his players to Real this summer, but he has also said he sees Haaland in Germany for at least one more season.

While Perez maintains good relations with Watzke, Haaland's friendship with international team-mate Martin Odegaard could also have an influence on his decision.

Odegaard is expected to stay on loan at Real Sociedad for one more season, before returning to the Santiago Bernabeu next year and by then, BVB could be ready to negotiate – although that is likely to depend on whether they believe they can mount a credible challenge for the Bundesliga and also the Champions League with the Scandinavian still at the club.

In Pictures | Bundesliga football returns in Germany | 16/05/2020

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As things stand, Madrid's main target in 2021 will be Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe and if the French forward can be signed in 2021, Los Blancos will be happy to wait the extra year for Haaland.

In the meantime, last summer's €60m signing Luka Jovic should be given another chance to impress after what has been a difficult debut season at the Bernabeu.

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