La Liga chief rules Barcelona out of Erling Haaland race

Stuart Telford

• 2 Feb 2023 22:53 GMT
• 3 min read

Barcelona president Joan Laporta said recently the club were monitoring Erling Haaland's situation at Manchester City, but La Liga chief Javier Tebas has ruled out any chance of them signing him.

Not that Haaland is going anywhere quite yet. The big Norwegian only joined City from Borussia Dortmund in a €60 million deal last summer and has hit the ground running with 25 goals from just 19 Premier League games.

But his father and agent Alfie - a former City midfielder - has claimed that Haaland Jr. might look for pastures new after a few seasons, and Laporta didn't rule out Barca being the striker's future destination.

READ: Erling Haaland at Man City: Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2022-23

"I hear that Haaland's father is saying that after a while at City maybe [he would move]," he said in January. "But we'll see how it evolves. "For now we're doing our thing, and [Robert] Lewandowski is doing very well."

Lewandowski has hit 14 goals in 16 La Liga games following his own summer transfer from Bayern Munich for €50m, but Haaland has 12 years on the Pole, who might need replaced by the time the City man becomes available.

However, La Liga president Tebas has shot down any suggestion Barca might be in the running for Haaland.

READ: Barcelona were 18 seconds late in completing January signing

La Liga previously boasted the two greatest goalscorers of a generation in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who turned out for Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively, and some hope Kylian Mbappe and Haaland could one day recreate something similar.

Tebas: 'they could only be at Real Madrid'

La Liga chief Tebas doesn't see it happening.

"Hopefully it will be like this," he told El Chiringuito TV when asked about such a prospect.

"But these two players could only be at Real Madrid, because the economic situation of Barcelona would not allow them to access this type of player. Neither this season nor the next. I see it as impossible."

Barca were €1.35 billion in debt when they lost Messi on a free to PSG in the summer of 2021, and although Laporta worked hard to activate financial levers - the sale of a percentage of future revenues for things like TV rights and merchandising - they remain in the red, with this season's group stage exit from the Champions League not having helped.