Laporta: Haaland will join Barcelona next summer

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:55 CDT
• 3 min read

Joan Laporta has sensationally claimed that Barcelona will sign Borussia Dortmund superstar Erling Haaland next summer, according to Marca.

Haaland is arguably the hottest young property in Europe after an incredible two years at Dortmund.

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Dortmund resisted all interest in Haaland this past summer but it is widely expected that the attacker will move on at the end of the 2021-22 campaign when a release clause – believed to be in the region of €75 million - will be activated in his contract.

Virtually every top club in Europe is interested in signing the 21-year-old, including Manchester City, Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, PSG and Real Madrid.

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Barcelona were believed to be underdogs to sign Haaland due to their difficult financial situation, with the club reported to be around €1.3 billion in debt.

But that hasn’t stopped Barca president Laporta from boasting that his team will sign the Norwegian wonderkid.

What did Laporta say about Haaland?

"I'm going to sign Haaland next summer," Marca report Laporta as having told colleagues behind closed doors at Barcelona.

It is not clear whether Laporta was talking about the summer of 2022 or 2023.

These words follow on from the public declarations of Laporta earlier this week when the president was again bullish about signing the 21-year-old.

“Haaland? Our obligation is to build a great team. Anything is possible if we do well. And I am sure we will do well,” he said.

“Very soon we will see the sporting resurgence of Barca.

“All the biggest players contemplate the possibility of coming to Barca.

“In the moment that we are in, we have to look at the economic situation, but we are improving and everything is possible.”

Barcelona have already been active in the January transfer market, signing Ferran Torres from Manchester City for an eventual fee of €65m.

However, the wideman cannot be registered until Barca lower their wage bill and sell players.

Dortmund respond to Barcelona talk

Dortmund director Sebastien Kehl has had his say on the Barcelona speculation and reaffirmed his belief that Haaland is at the right club.

Kehl said: “We’ll sit down with Haaland in the next few weeks and discuss the situation. It would be good if a decision doesn't drag on forever.

“He’s in very good hands at BVB, and why we as a club can continue to be a very good option for him."

Haaland still has a contract with Dortmund that runs until 2024, and they hope to convince him to stay beyond the summer and stay for at least another year.

Haaland joined Dortmund from RB Salzburg for €20 million in January 2020.

He has since scored 76 goals in just 75 appearances.