Robert Lewandowski turned 36 last month
Lewandowski recently celebrated his 36th birthday. But while the veteran Pole has started the new season in good form, scoring four times in his first five La Liga appearances, the club cannot ignore the fact that he is now well into the latter stages of his career.
Barca spent big money on Vitor Roque until deciding pretty quickly that the young Brazilian was not what they wanted. In the summer, he was loaned to Real Betis for the season, with both the option of a further year and a permanent transfer for only a slight loss.
SPORT writes that the Barcelona hierarchy are beginning to internally discuss possible targets and there are three names that have gained the most traction so far.
The first is the obvious: Erling Haaland. The Manchester City striker is undeniably the best goalscorer in the world, finding the net 99 times in his first 104 games for them. His career tally for club and country to date is an astonishing 284 by the age of just 24. Most don't make that in a career.
Erling Haaland would almost certainly be unaffordable
But even if City are severely punished for alleged financial breaches and there is a fire sale, Barca would still struggle to compete financially with other expected suitors. The Norwegian is one of City's highest earners on more than €24m (£20m) per season. The asking price could also be around €175m (£147m), depending on the circumstances at the time.
Only slightly less realistic than pursuing Haaland is going after Viktor Gyokeres. Previously a lower league player throughout most of his career, the Swede had a breakout season with Sporting CP in 2023/24 when he scored 43 times in all competitions and already has nine to his name in 2024/25.
But with Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain all linked with Gyokeres, as well as a €100m (£84m) release clause that Sporting have vehemently refused to negotiate over, the 26-year-old might also be out of Barcelona's price range.
At €65m (£54.5m), Benjamin Sesko of RB Leipzig might be more affordable. It is a similar amount to Dani Olmo this past summer, while Sesko is already understood to have an agreement in place with Leipzig that would facilitate his exit next summer, despite recently signing a new contract. Of the three options on Barcelona's lips, he is the cheapest but the least prolific goalscorer.
Manchester City's Champions League match on Tuesday night was marred by crowd trouble, with Feyenoord fans causing chaos at the Etihad Stadium. The Dutch supporters, escorted by police from the city centre to the stadium, filled all three tiers of the South Stand.After City scored three goals, Feyenoord managed to net one with about 15 minutes left, leading to riot police stepping in to prevent cl...
Liverpool boss Arne Slot insists Mohamed Salah isn't unsettled over his contract situation.After scoring twice in victory at Southampton on Sunday, Salah revealed he had not heard from management about a new deal. His current contract expires in June."The only thing I can say is, if I look at my line-ups, Mo is more in than out," said Slot."I don't think he's distracted at all. I haven't seen that...
Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany said he doesn't fully understand how the new Champions League format worked after his team earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday to improve their chances of reaching the knockout stage.Bayern needed a first-half goal from defender Kim Min-Jae to battle past 10-man PSG and claim a third win in five matches."I don't look at the table...
Let's start our Daily Laugh today. The reason why Man City lost 5 matches in a row Erling Haaland lol Cucuruku Cook that thing… This The Man United cycle. This Please stay tuned on Daily Laugh. There will be more fun tomorrow!(Credit: Justtoonit, originaltrollfootball, FootballLaughss, PL__OOC)...
The Portuguese has promised to not sign any Sporting CP stars in the winter window.However, all bets are off in the summer, with A Bola stating that Geovany Quenda is the main target.United are said to be preparing an offer of £50M plus bonuses to secure the young winger.Amorim can use Quenda in either wing-back position, while he is also capable of playing in the front three.Another player U...
The Algerian's contract expires in the summer of 2026 and he is believed to be eyeing a move away from Molineux.Rayan Ait-Nouri is wanted by Man UtdThat has put United are on red alert for a player as Amorim has made signing a left-back a priority.He wants to boost his options give Luke Shaw's injury record.Shaw could also eventually move into the back-three once the former Sporting Lisbon manager...
Mohamed Salah has said he is yet to receive a formal contract offer from Liverpool, adding that he is "more out than in" regarding whether he will stay at the club next season.Salah, whose contract is set to expire next summer, has enjoyed an impressive individual campaign, having scored 12 goals in all competitions this term, including a brace in Liverpool's 3-2 comeback win over Southampton on S...
Real Madrid monitoring Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite🚨👀 #Branthwaite is attracting the attention of 🇪🇺 top clubs.📃 #RealMadrid included the CB in their list of potential January targets, while 🏴 teams continue to monitor him ahead of June.💰 #Everton would like to keep him but are also open to evaluating bids >€70m. 🐓⚽ pic.twitter.com/5lpoomMdyp— Rudy Galetti (@RudyGaletti) Novem...
Let's start our Daily Laugh today. EPL Week 12 Ipswich 1-1 Man Utd Southampton 2-3 Liverpool LOL OUCH Cristiano Ronaldo now has 500 more Goals than Henry When a taxi driver asked Messi to take photo of him with Mascherano... Please stay tuned on Daily Laugh. There will be more fun tomorrow!(Credit: Just toon it, trollfootball, The Football Arena, AZR Organization)...
Leicester City open talks with Van Nistelrooy over head coach job🚨🗣️ #Leicester have approached Ruud #vanNistelrooy to explore the negotiation margins to replace Steve Cooper on their bench.📃 David #Moyes and other names are under evaluation, but #LCFC would like to convince the 🇳🇱 manager as a priority. 🐓⚽ #Transfers pic.twitter.com/xsz3TT9q7P— Rudy Galetti (@RudyGaletti) November 24, 2024H...
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