Barcelona president Joan Laporta eager to sign Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland despite Manchester United interest
According to Marca, Joan Laporta has told his Barcelona colleagues that he will sign Borussia Dortmund ace Erling Haaland in the summer despite competition from Manchester United.
The 21-year-old marksman has been one of the deadliest strikers in Europe in the past two years. To put his scoring streak into perspective, he has scored a ridiculous 76 goals in 75 games for the Signal Iduna Park outfit.
Man United are keeping tabs on him but are looking to orchestrate a move within the rules of Financial Fair Play. In the meantime, Barcelona are looking to pip them to the race. President Joan Laporta has also apparently told his colleagues “I’m going to sign Haaland next summer”, as quoted by Marca.
The Spanish club is looking to make him the main star and build around him. But they are wary of clubs like Man United and PSG that can also sign him due to their financial muscle. Bayern Munich have apparently opted out of the race to sign the Norwegian international.
The biggest transfer saga of the summer?
It is the question on the lips of every media house and reporter. Haaland is one of the hottest properties in world football, and one still does not know his preferred destination. However, there are several factors that will come into play.
Barcelona do have an edge over Man United due to the excellent relationship between Laporta and the player’s agent, Mino Raiola. The Red Devils, on the other hand, do not share the same camaraderie with the Italian agent, evidenced by the transfer saga of Paul Pogba.
However, the Old Trafford outfit may well be in a financially healthier state than the Blaugrana club- at least for now. Laporta is confident of signing the Dortmund ace but it is worthy of noting that they had to offload Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann in the summer. In fact, they also had to secure a bank loan to sign Ferran Torres from Man City recently.
Financial Fair Play could be a roadblock for us, but there could be a clever way to balance the books and sign the former Molde starlet. With Edinson Cavani and Anthony Martial likely to leave by the summer due to contract issues and lack of game-time, we could use a striker. Moreover, Haaland could partner Cristiano Ronaldo before leading the line himself once the Portuguese international retires.
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Regardless, it could take a lot to sign the centre-forward but given the confidence of Joan Laporta, Man United need to be a step ahead of their European rivals in potential negotiations.
The Norwegian striker is a player that can bring trophies by himself at a club. If he is surrounded by quality players, then there is no limit to what that team can achieve. Signing Haaland is an investment that United would be really, really wise to make.
