Superstar at a sale price. Manchester City snatch Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund for barely 60 million euros, far below his value. How can that be explained? The story of a visionary broker without flexible conditions.
Neymar to PSG: 222 million. Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona: 140 million. Eden Hazard to Real Madrid: 115 million…
And so we could go on and on.
In recent years, football transfer fees have exploded. Even to the extent that no one understands that Manchester City has to pay “barely” 60 million euros for Erling Haaland.
Given the current prices (and his unique talent), the Norwegian does seem like a steal. In the list of most expensive transfers of all time, the sniper would only end up in 54th place. One he has to share with… Luis Figo – a deal that happened over 20 years ago.
Visionary Raiola
What exactly is that?
Well, when Dortmund took over Haaland from RB Salzburg in 2020 for 20 million euros, that was only possible under one condition.
The meanwhile regretted super broker Mino Raiola demanded that his client could leave in 2022 for a fixed amount. You could say a lot about the Dutchman, but not that he didn’t understand football.
Raiola believed strongly in Haaland’s qualities and was determined to avoid a difficult exit from Dortmund – a stopover in the striker’s career. Given transfer price inflation, that was a realistic scenario.
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The condition even ensured that Haaland did not end up in the Premier League earlier. Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke admitted in an interview that the Norwegian could have just signed with Manchester United. They only refused to include the fixed departure sum in the agreement. And so Haaland went to Germany.
Mystery about clause
The precise details of the clause have long been mysterious. Was it really a fixed sum or rather a gentlemen’s agreement between Dortmund and the entourage? And was it about 75 million or 60 million?
The latter has since been clarified, the former has not.
The German top club tried several times to close the back door in the contract. By seducing Haaland with a new agreement – without that clause in question.
Dortmund wanted to almost double Haaland’s salary (8 million euros) at some point with the help of clothing sponsor Puma, who wanted to anticipate the Norwegian’s expiring shoe deal with Nike.
In vain.
Total operation costs more than 200 million
City took advantage of the unique opportunity. Although, despite the low bank transfer to Dortmund, it will still have to dig deep into the pouch to pay for the entire Haaland operation.
In addition to the sum of 60 million, papa Alf-Inge and the real estate agency of Raiola (just like with the previous transfer) also pass the cash register. Both parties would be allowed to divide an unconfirmed amount of 30 million euros.
In addition, there is the high labor cost. Haaland will reportedly earn €440,000 per week (excluding bonuses) – the same salary as best earner Kevin De Bruyne. That is more than 22.8 million euros annually, perhaps for five seasons.
So get rid of that bargain label.
