Why Barcelona are already out of the race for Haaland
Stefan Bienkowski
- 19 Feb 2022 14:01 GMT
- 7 min read
Barcelona remain one of the biggest clubs in the world and as such have always been one of the few sides that have been consistently linked with a move for Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland.
While Manchester City and Real Madrid may be leading the race, Barca’s own bosses have rarely given up any opportunity to link themselves with the Bundesliga striker.
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Such was club president Joan Laporta’s sentiment when he was asked about the club going after the player back in January.
"Everything is possible. All the greatest players contemplate the possibility of coming to Barca,” said Laporta. "Everybody should get ready, as we are back as big players in the market."
However, as much as Laporta may wish for fans of his club to start dreaming again it remains a remarkably unlikely possibility that Haaland will end up donning the colours of the Catalan side next season.
They can’t afford him
For a start, there’s very little chance that Barca could even afford to buy and then pay Haaland the wages that he would undoubtedly demand.
Remember, this was of course the club that couldn’t afford to re-sign Lionel Messi last summer, begged their first team players to take a pay-cut and have since offloaded a number of expensive players to shrink their wage bill.
And it isn’t simply speculation that rules Barca and their strained finances out of the race for Haaland. The president of the Spanish top flight admitted as much this week.
"As of today, in the current situation they are in, they cannot get Haaland,” said Javier Tebas in an interview with El Periodico de Espana. "It's more than a shame. We want a FC Barcelona that has a competitive economic situation."
They’ve already signed other forwards
Indeed, while Barca’s president may be suggesting a move for Haaland in public, behind closed doors it seems clear that the club have already moved on to other attacking options.
In the January transfer window, Barca signed no less than three new forwards in the form of Adama Traore, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ferran Torres. With the latter costing no less than €50 million.
As such, it seems highly unlikely that Barca would spent what money they had on new forwards in January, only to then drop them all in the summer by breaking the bank on Haaland.
