Manchester City star Erling Haaland has been approached by Barcelona over a move – and has given them the thumbs-up to go to Catalonia.
Haaland only moved to Eastlands in 2022 from Borussia Dortmund but has been heavily linked with exits ever since joining. Earlier this month, he refused to rule out a transfer to La Liga, with Spanish outlet AS reporting in the past that, "If were up to him, he would sign for [Real] Madrid tomorrow."
The Scandi striker has apparently bought a property in Spain in the last year – and may have even agreed to move to Barcelona already, following more reports from the Spanish press.
Mundo Deportivo have laid out the 'roadmap' of Haaland moving to Camp Nou, stating that it's the Catalans' desire to secure the Manchester City star in 2025 after Robert Lewandowski has gone.
"[Haaland] began contacts [in] April 2021, when his father and agent [at the time, the late] Mino Raiola, travelled to Barcelona on a private jet to learn about Barça's sports project, before flying to Madrid the same afternoon," the report states. "The next day they travelled to England, where he also visited Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.
"Months later, in the summer of 2021, in which Leo Messi ended up leaving Barça, Haaland finally [agreed to remain] at Dortmund for another year. However, the Norwegian said 'yes' to Barça for the following season," the report continues. "In fact, in March 2022, Xavi Hernandez travelled to Munich to meet with him in person and finish explaining the project. The Scandinavian was very excited about the prospect of wearing the Barcelona shirt.''
Mundo Deportivo explain that ultimately the move was abandoned due to financial constraints, with fellow Bundesliga hitman Lewandowski favoured. But the interest from Barcelona's side is still there.
"Last month there was a new approach, with the visit of his current agent, Rafaela Pimenta, to Barcelona, where she met with the current Barça sports director, Deco," according to Mundo Deportivo.
In FourFourTwo's view, the move could certainly have been on the cards a couple of seasons ago – but right now, it seems unlikely that Barcelona could afford Haaland, even at the reduced price on offer to foreign clubs. It seems like wishful thinking that any Spanish club could so much as compete with the money of Manchester City right now.
It's been reported that there is a €200 million release clause in operation, should a Premier League side wish to sign the striker, though this could be significantly lower for overseas sides. Still, even if Haaland were to cost half of that, there's no guarantee that Barcelona would be able to match the salary expectations and associated fees with signing a player whose stock has only risen since his Premier League move.
There have also been claims over the past few months of a contentious fallout between Guardiola and his talismanic forward – but this has been unsubstantiated.
Haaland is worth €180m, according to Transfermarkt.
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