Real Madrid could live to regret not signing Erling Haaland before Man City - but don't be surprised if the Norwegian goal machine ends up at Santiago Bernabeu eventually

Real first showed interest in signing Haaland in 2019 after his astonishing debut campaign in the Champions League, when he scored eight goals in six games for Red Bull Salzburg. But Los Blancos had just spent €60 million on a centre forward in Luka Jovic, as well as splashing out €115m on Eden Hazard and €54m on teenager Rodrygo. They could not realistically justify signing another young forward on a big salary.

Haaland, his family and representatives, meanwhile, had carefully mapped his career out and they felt that Real was too big a step for him at such an early stage, when he needed to be playing every week. After holding talks with Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund, they decided that the Bundesliga side was the ideal next destination for him.

As Haaland quickly proved he could be as prolific in Germany as he had been in Austria and continued to score regularly in the Champions League, his then-agent Mino Raiola began gauging interest in him from Europe's biggest clubs. The Italian took a much-publicised trip to Spain, meeting with Barcelona and Real Madrid in the same day.

Raiola also travelled to England to meet with Chelsea and Manchester City. But according to reports at the time, the option Haaland favoured most was Madrid. And a year later, the player joined Raiola and his father, Alfie, in the Spanish capital after deciding it was time to leave Dortmund.

During the meeting in Madrid in late March 2022, as Real were making their case to sign him, Haaland reportedly came out with a question of his own. According to Spanish newspaper El Mundo, the Norwegian wanted to know how his potential arrival would impact on Karim Benzema, who was in the form of his life for Madrid and had recently scored a hat-trick to knock Paris Saint-Germain out of the Champions League.

"And what would happen with Benzema?" Haaland is reported to have asked. Real president Florentino Perez also cited Benzema's continued brilliance as one of the reasons why his club ultimately opted against signing the Norwegian when it was confirmed that he was joining City.

"We have the best number nine in the world and we weren't going to bring Haaland here to have him on the bench," Perez told El Chiringuito.

While Real were enthrall to Benzema, whose Ballon d'Or-winning form fired them to La Liga glory as well as the Champions League last season, City were at the time playing without a centre-forward in most matches. Pep Guardiola had opted against replacing Sergio Aguero when he left in the summer of 2021 after Harry Kane proved too expensive.

Gabriel Jesus was the only natural striker left in the squad and he started little more than half of City's matches, with Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva or Ilkay Gundogan instead playing as a false nine. There could be no doubt that if Haaland moved to Manchester, he would play almost every game, and so it has proved.

The player's father can be seen weighing up the options in a scene in the documentary Erling Haaland: The Big Decision. “You can't really say no to Real Madrid but we have a criterion in mind. Who needs a No.9? Manchester City is a 10 out 10, it is the perfect option, while Real Madrid is a five or six out of 10 because of how Benzema is playing now. Will they also manage to sign [Kylian] Mbappe?” Alfie was seen asking.

Although Real briefed at the time that they could afford to sign Haaland and Mbappe in the summer of 2022, the fact that they thought they were about to land the France striker inevitably played a part in their decision to turn away from Haaland.

Perez has revealed that Mbappe had told him he wanted to join Real Madrid and that the player's mother had said the same, suggesting that French president Emmanuel Macron eventually persuaded him to sign a new contract with Paris Saint-Germain.

A Madrid frontline featuring Mbappe, Haaland, Vinicius Jr and Benzema would have been frightening to behold, but it was also never sustainable from a financial or sporting point of view.

Real also made it known that they were a little worried by Haaland's tendency to pick up injuries. Madrid had recently seen how the careers of Gareth Bale and Hazard, the club's two most expensive players ever, had unravelled due to persistent injuries.

And while they were looking at Haaland, it had not escaped their attention that the player had missed chunks of the two previous seasons with muscle injuries. Their fears, however, seem to have been misplaced. Haaland has played 32 out of City's 34 Premier League matches in 2022-23 and never been absent for longer than a week.

Guardiola even raves about Haaland's dedication to looking after himself. “We know we have to keep a watch because he’s so big,” the Catalan said. “Physios, massage, backs, shoulders, tendons, everything. He works so much inside the training centre, much more than on the pitch."

The coach also revealed that after making Premier League history by scoring his 35th goal of the season, Haaland went straight to City's training ground for an hour-long massage. Haaland pays huge attention to his diet and his sleep patterns. There was never any danger of him playing rounds of golf after training or reporting for pre-season overweight like Bale and Hazard.

Unlike Madrid, City had no doubts at all about signing Haaland and are being handsomely rewarded for putting their faith in him. The Norwegian has scored 39 percent of their goals in the Premier League, as well as providing seven assists. He is the top scorer in the Champions League with 12 goals, and against RB Leipzig in March he equalled Lionel Messi's record tally of five goals in a knockout match.

Thanks to Haaland, City head back to Madrid feeling confident they can avenge last season's semi-final defeat. Guardiola's side played better than their opponents for most of the tie and led 5-3 on aggregate heading into added time of the second leg, agonisingly missing out on the final when Rodrygo scored twice in two minutes at the Bernabeu to force extra-time, when Benzema fired in a penalty to send them to the final.

Before Rodrygo struck, City had missed a series of good chances to put the tie out of sight, and if Haaland had been playing for them then, they surely would have gone through.

Haaland is City's pride and joy right now, but that does not mean the Norwegian will not end up at the Bernabeu one day as their latest Galactico. Real are not looking at signing Haaland in the immediate future, however, especially now that the £150m clause that was written into his original contract with City has been removed.

Real have instead turned their attentions back to the Brazilian teenager market which has proven so successful for them in recent years. In December, they agreed to sign 16-year-old forward Endrick from Palmeiras in a deal worth up to €60m.

Endrick will move to Real in the summer of 2024, which is the same year that Benzema's latest contract expires. Several reports in the Spanish media have stated that Real will look to sign Haaland when Benzema does leave, although 2024 may be a little premature, as Haaland is under contract with City until 2027.

But as they showed last summer by parting with Sterling, Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, City have never stood in the way of a player who wants to leave.

Despite being only 22, Haaland is at the fifth club of his career, and he has never stayed at one team for more than three seasons. While he is comfortable at City and there is genuine feeling between him and the club, there is no reason to think he will be as loyal to them as Kane has been to Tottenham or Steven Gerrard was to Liverpool.

Assuming he stays relatively injury free, he will have the luxury to choose whoever he wants, and they do not come bigger than Real Madrid. Rafaela Pimenta, his agent after the death of Raiola in 2022, said she and her clients are always thinking about the next step.

"There is the Premier League, and there is Real Madrid. Real Madrid has something of its own that makes it the dreamland for the players. Madrid keeps this magic going. They don't have the league competition every week, but they do have the Champions League," Pimenta said at the Financial Times Business of Football summit in March.

"In my agency we try to make a plan. We need to have a goal. Maybe we won’t achieve it but if we don’t know where we’re going for sure we don’t get there. When we have a player, we make plans."

Haaland's father has not hidden his son's desire to play elsewhere either. “I think Erling wants to test out his capabilities in every league. Then he can stay in every league for three to four years maximum,” Alfie said in The Big Decision.

“He could have two-and-a-half years in Germany, two-and-a-half in England, and then in Spain, Italy, France, right? We do not know if it will be like that, but I think he would like to test his abilities in the big leagues.”

Madrid, then, remains a viable option for Haaland's future. Man City's first true Galactico could yet be calling the Bernabeu his home in a few short years.