Barcelona president Joan Laporta has dropped a hint that the club could be ending their pursuit of top transfer target Erling Haaland.
Speaking to TV3 (h/t Goal), Barcelona president Joan Laporta has cast doubts over the pursuit of Borussia Dortmund superstar Erling Haaland, saying that they would not go through with any operation that would risk the club’s financial situation.
Barcelona have made Haaland their top priority for the summer transfer window. The 21-year-old is one of the most sought-after players in the market, and naturally, there is a lot of interest in his services, with the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain also among his suitors.
Barcelona have been laying the groundwork to capture the Norwegian international, though, with Laporta having multiple meetings with his representative, super-agent Mino Raiola. Manager Xavi Hernandez also flew to Germany to speak to the prolific goalscorer and convince him to move to Camp Nou.
The Catalans were believed to have tabled a massive contract offer worth around €190 million for Haaland. However, Laporta has now seemingly dropped a hint that Barcelona could be walking away from the deal as they are unwilling to risk the club’s economic situation any further.
Erling Haaland?
Joan Laporta:Even if we had the best economic situation, there are operations that we will not do
—?via @esport3. pic.twitter.com/3N7t87gT6i
— Barça Daily (@Barcadaily__) March 13, 2022
“We’re working on the future of the squad. Both [director of football] Mateu Alemany and [advisor] Jordi Cruyff are also looking for a certain rationality. We are here to manage a football club well. We are in a period that, although we are improving economically, it has not yet been solved,” Laporta said.
“The economic situation has not been reversed and that is the priority. It is clear that we want an increasingly powerful team. We will go all out, but we will not do any operation that puts the institution at risk.”
These statements come just around the time when speculations rose about Manchester City striking an agreement to secure Haaland’s signing from Dortmund. Barcelona are not in a position to compete with the financial might of the Premier League champions and would likely find it difficult to match the wages that they may be offering the 21-year-old superstar.
The Blaugrana are already looking at alternate options for Haaland in the market, with Chelsea duo Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner being linked with them. At the same time, Marcus Rashford of Manchester United has also been mentioned as a target.
