Haaland and the Ronaldinho case

Real Madrid only have eyes right now for Mbappé and, as AS has already been reporting, they prefer that Haaland stay one more season at Borussia Dortmund to deal with his signing in 2023. From the perspective of the white club, that option only offers advantages: it would allow collecting income to dedicate it to the transfer, it would give Mbappé a year to take over the reins of Madrid as leader of the attack, it would prevent the march from the Norwegian to a direct rival… Different is what the player, his agent, Mino Raiola, and his father think. Leaving Dortmund this summer goes through the minds of the three to sign for a team capable of aspiring to everything.

And it is that Real Madrid’s tactics have an obvious risk: not fighting in the summer of 2022 for the signing of Haaland would pave the way for the rest of the teams that intend to hire him, such as Barcelona, ​​PSG, Bayern or Manchester City. If this situation arises, the merengue club will make an effort, but clearly it will be conditioned by the outlay it must make for Mbappé, who will arrive at no transfer cost, but with a strong transfer premium. And Florentino Pérez has in his memory a similar situation that fatally led to Madrid.

It was in the summer of 2003, the year that Joan Laporta became president of Barcelona; Florentino had been settled in Madrid for three years, in which he had signed Figo, Zidane and Ronaldo in three consecutive summers, winning the League, the Champions League and the League, among other titles. By the summer of 2003, his goal was clear: David Beckham. A footballer not especially necessary in terms of sport (far right, the position in which Figo played), but very profitable economically, capable of taking Madrid to another level in terms of marketing.

There he collided with Barcelona, ​​as Laporta became president of Barcelona promising the signing of the Englishman, despite knowing that he already had an initial agreement with Madrid. “I was on vacation in the United States with Victoria, a friend called me and told me that he had heard that United had agreed the terms of my new contract with Barcelona, I told him it wasn’t like that and then I flew back to London, I talked to my agent and I told him that if I was going to go it would be to Real Madrid”, Beckham himself explained years later.

Ronaldinho, between Madrid and Barcelona

After the fiasco, Barcelona looked at its second option: Ronaldinho. But Madrid would also appear there to fight for the signing. In fact, Florentino quickly contacted the president of PSG and the agreement between the clubs was simple. “We know that Madrid has reached an agreement with PSG, and that is the reason why the transfer to Manchester United has been stopped. (the team that was first interested in ‘Dinho’). But Madrid still hasn’t contacted us and we’re waiting,” Roberto de Assis, the player’s brother and agent, explained to AS that summer.

But Madrid’s intention to postpone the signing for a year broke everything: the white club considered paying 35 million euros (an offer 10 million higher than United’s), but leaving the player in Paris until 2004, when he would join Madrid. PSG thought the plan was perfect, they could keep the footballer for one more year than expected, he received help from Madrid to pay his salary and he earned a very good amount. The only dissatisfied with that plan was Ronaldinho, who was eager to leave PSG (it was not the Parisian club that it is today) to start competing at the top European level. There Barcelona appeared to offer an instant transfer for 25 million fixed (and 5 for objectives) that satisfied PSG and Ronaldinho.

The rest is history. The Brazilian was the cornerstone of the new Barcelona, ​​in his first season he finished second in the league (Madrid was fourth), in the second he won the League title and in 2005-06 he achieved a League-Champions double that was linked to a major crisis of results in Madrid, which ended up leading to the resignation of Florentino Pérez . The photo of Ronaldinho leaving to applause during a Clasico at the Bernabéu that ended 0-3 is part of the collective soccer imagination. A photo that could not happen, if Madrid does not postpone the arrival of the Brazilian for a year. Quite a warning thinking of Haaland for the next market.