Haaland's 'obsession' with Spain and La Liga

Stuart Telford

• 31 Mar 2024 11:12 BST
• 3 min read

It is only a matter of time before Erling Haaland swaps Manchester City for La Liga - more likely Real Madrid than Barcelona - according to a report in Spain.

Manchester City appear to have Haaland under lock and key for the moment, the big Norwegian under contract at the Etihad until 2027, and seemingly enjoying his football with 29 goals in 34 games this season.

But City face 115 FFP charges, and their grip on their star striker could loosen in due course. Selling a player valued at €135.9 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm could solve a lot.

READ MORE: Man City’s 10 most expensive transfers of all time

And the player is clear with what his next career step would be.

"[Haaland] has an obsession with Spain and La Liga," reports Sport's Tomas Andreu. "Erling wants to play in Spain. He hasn't hidden that fact across several interviews and he periodically travels for to the Iberian peninsula for the climate and gastronomy…"

Real Madrid Haaland's priority

The striker's player and father Alfie Haaland previously revealed the "transfer matrix" they created to choose the player's next club when he was still at Borussia Dortmund.

Real Madrid were second on it, owing primarily to the fact that Karim Benzema - another world class No.9 - was also on their books at the time.

READ MORE: Real Madrid's 10 most expensive transfers of all time

A potential move to the Bernabeu could now be muddied by the arrivals of Endrick and Kylian Mbappe. The former will join from Palmeiras for €60m this summer, while the latter is widely expected to arrive on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain.

Barcelona will have to be patient, meanwhile. They too have a top striker in their ranks in Robert Lewandowski, but they are also €1.2 billion in debt, making a move for Haaland an impossibility for the moment.

City's pending FFP case will worry Haaland, and indeed the rest of the squad, but there are very few teams in world football who can afford him, and it is little wonder he is pinning his hopes on a future move to the Bernabeu.