Chelsea could lose out on both Erling Braut Haaland & David Alaba to Real Madrid — reports

Erling Braut Haaland threw his shirt to an opposition player after Borussia Dortmund’s latest frustrating 2-2 draw against FC Köln, and that was all the ammunition which was needed to get the tongues wagging and the rumor mill churning.

According to Diario AS, the 20-year-old is losing his patience at Borussia Dortmund after yet another disappointing result, with the Bundesliga side now four points off Champions League qualification for next season. He has seemingly made it clear to his agent, Mino Raiola, that he won’t even contemplate not playing in the UCL, and will force a move away if Dortmund are unable to qualify, even though he initially planned to stay until at least 2022.

Barcelona and Manchester City have apparently already held talks with his entourage, but according to ABC Deportes (via BeSoccer) and Marca, Real Madrid are the furthest ahead in the long race to the Norwegian’s signature. Haaland has seemingly expressed his desire to play for Real Madrid, and has grown more certain about his desire to leave in recent weeks.

Raiola is seemingly already negotiating Haaland’s departure, with Dortmund’s initial demands being close to €250m, but the Los Blancos are optimistic that they can bring down the asking price to €120m, while paying an additional €40m to Haaland’s entourage.

Real Madrid will bank on a number of other factors as well to get the deal done: From Raiola’s keenness to work with the La Liga giants’ hierarchy to the good relationship between BVB and Los Blancos, with Real also willing to offer one or more of their players as makeweight should the need arises.

Of course, Haaland distanced himself from all the outgoing rumors in his latest interview, but that is as standard a response as one can expect to get from a footballer.

“I still have three years of contract. I am not upset about that. The media are the ones who write about it, I don’t focus on those things. I want to improve every day.”

- Erling Braut Haaland; source: Cadena Cope (via Football London)

And that concludes another edition of the Haaland rumor roundup.

As for David Alaba, ABC Deportes (via Managing Madrid) also confirms past rumors about the 28-year-old having a verbal agreement in place with Real Madrid, while Sky Germany and RMC Sport (via GFFN) claim that the final race for the Austrian will be between Real Madrid and Barcelona, with all other clubs having dropped out.