Real confident galactic swoop for Mbappe and Haaland is affordable

Real Madrid are growing increasingly confident of their ability to sign both Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland this summer, according to reports.

Mbappe’s Paris Saint-Germain contract expires at the end of the season and he will almost certainly be heading to the Bernabeu, having turned down a new PSG deal worth close to £1m-a-week.

Real will pay no transfer fee and will instead be in a position to offer Mbappe an astronomical wage and signing-on fee, which could well make the Frenchman the best-paid player on the planet.

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The Spanish giants will not stop there, though. They also have Haaland in their crosshairs, and are determined to get both deals over the line in the summer.

Haaland has a €75m release clause in his Borussia Dortmund contract that becomes active in the upcoming window and Real are one of several clubs vying for his signature.

Reports have suggested Manchester City are leading the race at the moment but the pull of the 13-time European champions should not be underestimated.

The question is whether Real can afford the contract that Haaland’s agent, Mino Raiola, will demand, in addition to taking Mbappe’s salary on.

According to Marca, the answer to that is yes, they can. The Spanish publication claims the arrival of both players ‘is edging closer every day’, with Real chiefs optimistic that a double swoop is ‘economically possible’.\

It will hinge on Real’s ability to offload their dead wood, which includes players such as Isco, Gareth Bale, Marcelo, and Eden Hazard, who has been linked with a return to Chelsea.

Hazard said in September: “I signed with Real Madrid for five seasons. The first two have not been good, the injuries have not helped me, but I still have three more to prove my worth.

“I hope it works, I hope to get up one morning and feel great on the training ground. If I feel pain there, I drag it to the games and I will continue to have it. I am waiting for that moment when I can show my worth again.

“Real Madrid have already spent a lot of money on me. I want to give something back to them.”