Barcelona president: We DON'T NEED disruptive Haaland

Tom Weber

• Updated: 23 Mar 2024 13:21 GMT
• 4 min read

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has dismissed his club's links with Erling Haaland.

Despite winning everything there is to win with Man City - or perhaps because of this - the Norwegian sharpshooter is regularly linked with a move away. Real Madrid have made it a priority to eventually snap up Haaland, but they are ready to play the long game as his release clause decreases every season, making him much more attainable in the future.

More recently, a shock move to Barcelona has been touted. This claim originated from Spain after Haaland's agent, Rafaela Pimenta, was said to have held talks with Blaugrana sporting director Deco.

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Unsurprisingly, given Barcelona's severe financial constraints, the links were shot down rather swiftly. Due to his aforementioned release clause, the 23-year-old would command a transfer fee of €200 million in the summer, which is a figure Deco and president Joan Laporta couldn't muster even in their wildest dreams.

Now, Laporta himself has addressed the sensational links with the Premier League star.

'Haaland would upset team balance'

Asked by Mundo Deportivo about making a statement signing in the summer, such as Haaland, the president gave a long-winded and slightly strange answer. After affirming his trust in the current core of players, Laporta insisted that signing Haaland wouldn't make sense because his addition would 'distort' the team's balance.

"You are confusing the media player with the one who fits well into the team and, prioritising the team, there will be one or two additions, who will make the squad better. Players of the calibre of Lamine [Yamal], [Robert] Lewandowski, Joao Felix, Ferran [Torres] and Raphinha, who are very strong and always contribute to the team."

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"And then Tigrinho [Vitor Roque], [who is] in a process of adaptation, like all Brazilians who come to Europe. He is charming, he has the gift of scoring, he gets into space well and helps Lewandowski. I do not see it necessary to make an investment that could distort what we are building, which is a balanced team."

"Next year, we will have Gavi again, who will give us energy. Pedri and Frenkie [de Jong] are world-class players like all the ones we have."