Real Madrid and Manchester City are less than a week away from the first leg of their Champions League semi-final first leg clash at the Santiago Bernabeu. It could be a tie which shapes the next few years for both sides.
The pair will clash with the English side pursuing a historic treble, and Pep Guardiola’s first Champions League trophy since he left Barcelona, last winning it in 2011.
It would also be a first Champions League trophy for Erling Haaland, if City can progress past Real Madrid and beat one of Milan or Inter. Haaland is already breaking records for City, his 35 goals the most anyone has scored in the Premier League ever.
Speaking to Caught Offside, Stan Collymore has ruminated on the possible ramifications should Haaland win the Champions League in his first season in England.
“I do wonder how long he’ll be at City for though,” the ex-pro added.
“Now he’s broken that record, and with the focus obviously on winning the treble, if Haaland and City were able to do that, how much incentive would there be for him to stay at the Etihad? – Very little, in my opinion.”
He also linked it to Jude Bellingham, who is reportedly close to a deal with Real Madrid for this summer.
“Add that to the fact he is really, really good friends with Bellingham, and as I have said multiple times before, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he see the pair reunited at Madrid. It would be a move that would make sense for Haaland – I doubt very much he will see out his career at City and to play for arguably the greatest club in the world and join the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul, Ronaldo Nazario, Luis Figo, Sergio Ramos, Roberto Carlos, Alfredo Di Stefano and Zinedine Zidane in the legends book is likely to be the only thing missing from his career. So watch this space – Haaland to Real Madrid in the next few seasons.”
Los Blancos have Karim Benzema likely until the end of next season, when the Frenchman will be 36. The likelihood is that they will look for a star centre-forward to come in for Benzema at that point, and in terms of timing, that looks the obviously point at which a deal could happen.
Collymore is wrong every time he opens his mouth. Haaland will be signing a new extended contract in the summer with no release clauses. And add to that City wrapped up the deal to sign Bellingham in November last year. But hey keep repeating what slides out of kno nothing Collymores mouth.