Borussia Dortmund will reportedly demand Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid in any potential deal that would see Erling Haaland join the Merengues.
According to a report from Spanish publication Defensa Central, Real Madrid may have to part ways with Norwegian starlet Martin Odegaard if they are to get their hands on his Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund in the summer transfer window.
The 20-year-old Haaland is one of the most sought-after commodities in the transfer market heading into the summer window of 2021. A host of top clubs across Europe, including the likes of Barcelona, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, along with Real Madrid, are all keen on landing him.
The aforementioned report, however, claims that Real Madrid may have an advantage over the rest of the suitors due to the fact that they share a good relationship with Borussia Dortmund. The two clubs have worked on deals for Achraf Hakimi and Reinier Jesus in the past and could once again do business in the summer over Haaland.
The report indicates that Real Madrid were hoping to offer either Luka Jovic as Mariano Diaz as part of a player-plus-cash deal to sign the Norwegian international from the Bundesliga giants. However, Dortmund would be more willing to do a deal if Haaland’s international teammate, Martin Odegaard was included as part of the deal.
The 22-year-old has been on Real Madrid’s books since 2015 and has been hailed as a star in the making for years now. However, he has never been able to get a look-in in the starting XI at the Spanish capital outfit, despite impressive loan spells away from the club with the likes of Vitesse Arnhem and Real Sociedad.
Having played a bit-part role in the first half of the 2020/21 campaign under Zinedine Zidane, Odegaard was loaned out once again in the January transfer window, this time to Premier League outfit Arsenal. Since arriving in England, the 22-year-old attacking midfielder has shown glimpses of his quality under Mikel Arteta.
But Odegaard’s prospects at Real Madrid might once again be bleak until Zinedine Zidane is completely convinced of the player. And given that they have an ageing Karim Benzema as their chief source of goals, Los Blancos might just look to consider the proposition of letting Odegaard move to Dortmund to bring in Haaland.
Borussia Dortmund, however, are known to be difficult negotiators. And with Real Madrid going through a bit of a difficult phase financially, it remains to be seen if there is any progress made on this front over the coming months.