Background to the million-dollar battle for Haaland revealed

After a month-long three-way battle with Adidas and Puma, the sporting goods manufacturer Nike bagged the new mega deal with Erling Haaland a few days ago. In the meantime, details of the million-dollar battle for the favor of the former BVB professional and today’s Premier League superstar have leaked out.

As the portal “The Athletic” reports, Haaland is to receive an annual amount of almost 23 million euros from Nike in order to become one of the faces of the brand. The contract with the US company runs for more than ten years, but is said to be designed for his entire career.

As is customary in the industry, the contract should also contain financial variables based on Haaland’s playing times and the sporting performance of his Manchester City club.

However, the 22-year-old Norwegian and his management are said to have not only looked at the basic economic data in the negotiations with Nike. Haaland wants to “create something special” with Nike and made his decision “rather with his heart than with his head”, it is said.

Three-way battle for Erling Haaland began before BVB left

The supplier struggle for the superstar had lasted more than a year. In January 2022, before he moved from BVB to the Premier League, Haaland’s old contract with Nike, which he had signed at the age of 14, expired. After that, Adidas and Puma, outfitters of ManCity, also tried to win the favor of the attacker.

He tested the boots of both brands last summer but completed the current season in Nike boots. The fact that he scored an impressive 42 goals in all competitions should not have affected his decision to the disadvantage of the Americans.

According to “The Athletic”, Haaland’s advisor Rafaela Pimenta and his father Alf-Inge were in charge of the talks about the new equipment contract.

With the Haaland deal, Nike is cementing its supremacy among the greats of the football world: France’s former world champion Kylian Mbappé is also under contract with the world’s leading sporting goods supplier.