Could Erling Haaland really leave Manchester City for Barcelona?

It is January 2022 and the Barcelona president Joan Laporta is standing in a hotel lobby in the Saudi capital Riyadh when a fan approaches. 

“We want Haaland,” demands the man.

Laporta, in town for the Spanish Supercopa, is wearing a face mask, but there is a discernible twinkle in his eye as he laughingly replies: “Who is this guy?” 

When the man persists, Laporta adds: “This guy is a very good player.”

Footage of that moment quickly went viral, but even at that stage Laporta’s interest in extracting Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund was well established. 

It was a wildly ambitious hope, given that Barcelona were more than half a million euros in debt at the time; even before wages, the Norway international would have cost more than £62m, the mark at which his contract release clause had been set. But then Laporta, whose first tenure as club president had been accompanied by a thwarted vow to bring David Beckham to the Camp Nou, has never been anything less than bold. 

Parallels with the past

The Spanish businessman spent years casting covetous glances at Thierry Henry before finally prising the striker from Arsenal’s grasp in the summer of 2007, and reports in Spain that Laporta remains determined to bring Haaland to Catalonia suggest he is intent on making history repeat itself. 

It is an open secret that Robert Lewandowski will leave Barcelona when his contract expires next summer and while Deco, the club’s sporting director, has played down the urgency of identifying a new No 9, the 37-year-old Pole’s departure will create an obvious vacancy for a proven goalscorer. Under the circumstances, it was no surprise when Laporta hinted at his enduring interest in Haaland, who has scored 129 goals in 150 games for Manchester City, at the end of last season. 

‘Nothing in life is impossible’

“Nothing in life is impossible,” Laporta replied when asked in a May television interview about the possibility of signing the striker. “Although we’re not thinking that right now, and he just renewed at City.”

A clearer indication of the Spaniard’s feelings was offered by Lluis Carrasco, a close friend of Laporta who acted as campaign manager for both his successful presidential bids.   

“I know that he is very fond of Haaland,” Carrasco told a fan on social media when Laporta was linked with a move for Haaland early in his second tenure as president. “He needs a star player, a symbol, for this project full of youngsters, someone who could dominate European football. 

“We can have a great team, but we need this star player. And we have no doubt that this star player on the European market is Erling Haaland. Erling is interested in a winning project. I also know that Haaland is aiming for a sports project where he will be the leader.”

Could Erling Haaland really end up at Barcelona?

If those words hold true, it would seem to rule out Real Madrid as a future destination. Despite Xabi Alonso’s efforts to emphasise the collective, Kylian Mbappé remains the leading man at the Bernabeu. 

So Barcelona remains a logical destination for Haaland, should he still harbour a desire to play in Spain. Of course, even if that were the case, it would require an almighty bid to extract him from the Etihad, where he has a contract until 2034. Could Barcelona really afford such a signing?

Equally, City manager Pep Guardiola has indicated that he does not intend to stay at the club beyond the end of his existing contract, which expires in 2027, and if the club’s uncertain form continues, it is not unthinkable the 25-year-old Norwegian might consider his position.

For the moment, Laporta’s ambition to see Haaland line up in the blue and red of Barcelona remains nothing more than a pipe dream. But he has proved everyone wrong before.