Man City and Real Madrid still ahead of Barcelona in Haaland pursuit
FT Desk
- 7 Mar 2022 09:55 CST
- 7 min read
Former Norway international Jan-Aage Fjortoft has all but ruled out the possibility of Barcelona signing Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland this summer.
The towering striker was heavily linked with a move to Barca last week when reports surfaced of manager Xavi travelling to Munich to visit Haaland as he recovered from an injury.
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The Barca manager then made little effort to deny such a meeting had happened when asked about it on Saturday.
"I haven't seen a player yet who doesn't want to sign for Barca. Everyone is excited to come to Barca," he told reporters.
"Then it depends on clauses and more, but no one is turning down Barca. I can't give you details… we work on the present and future of the club.
When things can be announced we will announce it - as we did with Pablo Torre, who is an excellent signing."
Could Haaland pick Madrid or Man City instead?
As such, many suspected that Barca may have jumped the queue and all but convinced the Dortmund forward to make the move to the Camp Nou in the summer. Yet Fjortoft still isn’t sure that such a move will take place.
"Everything boils down to two clubs, and I think that's Real Madrid and Manchester City," said Fjortoft in an interview with ESPN on Monday.
"I think the Barcelona thing is more of a vague possibility. It can happen in the end, but at the moment it's a matter between two countries and two clubs."
Whether Haaland does leave Dortmund this summer remains up for debate, but if he is pushing for a move abroad one would assume that Man City would be one of the most attractive propositions.
Not only did Haaland’s father used to play for the club, but it is also where the young striker would get to play under Pep Guardiola and have the best shot of winning the Premier League and Champions League.
Similarly, Madrid remain ahead of Barca in the pecking order of Spanish football at the moment, but it remains to be seen whether the capital side could afford to sign Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe and Haaland in a single transfer window.
