Report: Erling Haaland's Future to Be Discussed by Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund

Real Madrid is reportedly set to open discussions with Borussia Dortmund about a potential summer transfer for superstar Erling Haaland.

ESPN's Alex Kirkland and Rodrigo Faez reported Friday that Manchester City is "best positioned" to land Haaland, but Los Blancos are still keen on trying to land both the Norwegian striker and Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe.

Barcelona is also said to be involved in the pursuit of Haaland, whose camp has "made it clear" he'd prefer to leave Dortmund this summer and would like to finalize plans in the "next few weeks to avoid further drama," according to the ESPN report.

Haaland scored 41 goals in 41 matches across all competitions for the German club last season and has continued to shine throughout the 2021-22 term, tallying 16 goals and five assists in 14 Bundesliga appearances.

In January, the 21-year-old attacking sensation told Norwegian outlet Viaplay (h/t ESPN) that Dortmund had started to "press" him into making a decision about his future.

"That is what they want," he said. "It means things will happen now. They have started to put a lot of pressure on me, and I have to accept that ... so now is the time to get things started."

Real Madrid leads La Liga with 52 goals scored in 26 matches this season, which has helped the club build a six-point lead over Sevilla atop the table.

Adding Haaland or Mbappe, or potentially both, to the squad would make it even more difficult for their Spanish counterparts to keep pace in the coming years.

That would obviously come at quite a cost, though. In November, agent Volker Struth estimated to German outlet Sport Bild (h/t Marca) the total price to sign Haaland between the transfer fee and the striker's new contract will likely be in the €250-300 million range.

Given Haaland's status as one of the world's top strikers and the high-profile clubs involved in trying to sign him, transfer talks could stretch well into the summer as Dortmund tries to maximize its return.

But it sounds like both the player and the club would prefer to settle the situation well before the transfer window opens to avoid a summer of unrelenting speculation.