Manchester City went into their second leg clash against Kobenhavn with a healthy 1-3 lead from the firs leg, with Kevin de Bruyne and Phil Foden stealing the show.

Ahead of the return fixture, a lot of pressure was on Erling Haaland, who failed to deliver in the first leg. He eventually came away with a goal to his name, but there was more talk about his words before the game.

“I’m sure I will read what I say in big headlines tomorrow. Madrid? You never know what the future will hold,” he said in the buildup to the match.

His name has been linked with Real Madrid all over again over the last few weeks, with reports starting that the Norweigian dreams of playing at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Spanish capital outfit are on Haaland’s road map, and despite their move for Kylian Mbappe this summer, the operation to accommodate the Man City striker is still alive from both team’s ends.

A report from AS says that Haaland, on the back of these words, has given the ‘keys’ to Madrid. His words were directed right at them, with a clear message about what he wants out of his future.

The report says that Haaland has a release clause in his contract that makes his signing affordable for non-Premier League sides, and this figure will also keep on decreasing as the seasons go by.

Rafaela Pimienta, his agent, put this contract into place when he was signing for City, well-aware about the interest from Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and of course, Madrid.

Man City, meanwhile, want to renew Haaland’s contract and make him the highest-paid player in their squad. His agent will make sure, though, that the door for his exit remains open even if he puts pen to paper.

The problem lies in the finances, though, as Mbappe will arrive on a massive salary, that will make him the highest-paid player in the Madrid squad, and possibly retain his throne in Europe, as well.

Accommodating both Haaland and Mbappe will be very difficult even for Madrid, who have rather healthy finances heading into the summer transfer window.

They can, of course, look to offload some of the younger players in the team, who have a sky-high transfer valuation, like Rodrygo, or Eduardo Camavinga, but that would mean compromising on their project.

And while Haaland’s salary is reportedly around €30 million gross, he has 100% image rights retention at City right now, which Madrid never offer to their players. Even Cristiano Ronaldo was only given 50% of the shares.

As of now, Haaland is daydreaming about playing in the pearl white of Real Madrid, but the news about Mbappe’s future was a huge blow for him.