Barcelona ready to go all out for €200 million-rated Manchester City heavyweight | OneFootball

It is no secret that Joan Laporta wants to secure a high-profile signing before his term ends, and as per the latest update from SPORT, the name that most entices the Barcelona president is Erling Haaland.

Despite the delicate financial situation that Barcelona have been facing for several years, the president has long been dreaming and slowly crafting a strategy to sign the Norwegian striker in 2025 or 2026.

Laporta’s great desire

Reports of Barça’s interest in Haaland have been doing the rounds since the first contact with the striker’s entourage three years ago.

It all began in late March 2021, when the player’s father and his then-agent Mino Raiola (with whom Laporta maintained a very good relationship) embarked on a ‘tour’ to find the ideal destination for the Norwegian, who had outgrown Borussia Dortmund.

A few years later, Haaland is now the offensive centrepiece of one of the world’s best teams – Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Laporta’s great desire. (Photo by Christian Bruna/Getty Images)

And, after several meetings between Barça’s sports management, led by Deco, and the striker’s current representative Rafaela Pimenta, Laporta not only maintains his desire but is willing to go all out, with all his might, for the centre-forward.

The Barça president wants to make two high-profile moves to ‘reopen’ Spotify Camp Nou, and he is clear that one of them, whether in 2025 or 2026, has to be the signing of Haaland.

According to SPORT, the relationship between the Barça president and Pimenta is very fluid. There is a lot of trust between both parties, and this is seen as a point in favour of Barça’s interests.

Other potential factors in Barça’s favour could be Guardiola’s possible departure from the Etihad Stadium or the sanction that the Cityzens are facing for alleged financial irregularities.

Barcelona’s technical secretariat maintains Nico Williams as an option, as long as the economic conditions of the operation remain unchanged (both his release clause and contractual conditions), but Haaland is Laporta’s great desire.

Robert Lewandowski’s start to the season has been spectacular (12 goals and two assists in 11 games). But the Pole is already 36 years old, and it is obvious that the club need to think about a guaranteed replacement, with Haaland emerging as the desired candidate.

*Player valuation in title obtained from transfermarkt.com on date of publication.