After travelling to Barcelona yesterday morning, Alf Inge Haaland and Mino Raiola took a flight to Madrid to discuss the project and the plan in place at Real Madrid. While Los Blancos are the ones that are reportedly favourites to ultimately end up signing Haaland, let’s have a look at how the player could fit into the lineup.
Firstly, the number 9 shirt has belonged to Karim Benzema for the last decade and the likes of Gonzalo Higuain, Luka Jovic and Alvaro Morata have failed to try and challenge the Frenchman consistently for game time and come out on top. Hence, the same challenge applies to a talent like Haaland too.
However, it must be considered that none of them had performances or talent quite like the Norwegian wonderkid. In other words, Haaland has a great chance of finally usurping Benzema as the undisputed 9 at the club. Additionally, in Haaland’s favour is the fact that the 33-year-old’s contract expires next summer.
So while nobody is talking about it, Benzema could very well leave the club this summer for a fee or leave as a free agent if Madrid cannot negotiate an agreement amidst the talks, or even the potential arrival of Haaland. This could establish the 20-year-old as the Madrid number 9 for the next generation.
The inspiration of his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo also comes into play into this scenario. And the young striker would no doubt want to follow in the footsteps of his hero and represent the biggest club in the continent.
