Many top clubs are flirting with the services of BVB goal scorer Erling Haaland. But there is apparently also bidding for the Norwegian among the outfitters.
At the latest since this January, after the expiry of the previous contract with Nike, a poker is running for Haaland’s new private outfitter. Until now, BVB supplier Puma, whose boss Björn Gulden is Norwegian like Haaland and is considered a good acquaintance of the family, and his previous supplier Nike were considered favourites. But: A few weeks ago, the goal scorer had shown himself in an Instagram story wearing an Adidas shirt – surely no coincidence, rather a hint that another supplier might be considered for him.
As reported by Bild, Haaland was at a secret meeting with Adidas boss Kasper Roersted and board member Brian Grevy at the sportswear manufacturer’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach this week, to which Zinedine Zidane had also flown in. The ex-Kinglich coach may have acted as a “door-opener” for a move to both Adidas and Real Madrid, according to speculation.
BVB hopeful: stay until 2023
The idea that Haaland will not join Real until the summer of 2023 because they could already bring Kylian Mbappé from Paris Saint-Germain this year and because the top-flight striker Karim Benzema is still under contract in Madrid until 2023 has existed in Dortmund for some time. This is also the basis for some of BVB’s hopes that Haaland, who is contractually bound to the Westphalians until the summer of 2024 but has an exit option this summer, could stay for another year. The relationship between Real boss Florentino Perez and BVB boss Hans-Joachim Watzke has long been considered amicable.
The bottom line is that Real is one of the clubs that could afford Haaland’s package of transfer fee, hand money and salary and are also attractive for the professional. It remains open whether a change of the private outfitter to Adidas is necessarily linked to a move to Madrid. And: Zidane is considered a coaching candidate at PSG for the coming season. Should Mbappé switch to Real, the Parisians – equipped by Nike – will need a successor. French media are already speculating about Haaland. So it is and remains complicated. The poker over Haaland – it is likely to go on for a while. Both in terms of his supplier and his sporting future.
