I mean that Real Madrid refused to fight for Haaland because they were sure that Mbappe would go to them and signing two players who would definitely compete against each other in the wrong way. But Mbappe turned out to be a cheat and as a result, Real Madrid found themselves without any increase in attack before the last season, which led to such poor results.
Ok yes but there are still a lot of people claiming that Benzema was enough to have a successful season, but I agree with you that despite of his injury he isn't the player who can go 45 games and more without any issues.
Do you think that Mbappe would have competed with Haaland? Usually they play different positions. But I doubt that Real Madrid could have done it financially unless they would have found a creative solution for the financial problems, but it would have led to a huge burden in terms of the wages.