Not a day seems to go by without rumours of Erling Haaland’s next playing destination being front and centre in outlets across planet football.
It’s no wonder that there’s so much interest in the Borussia Dortmund hit-man, for he is, along with Paris Saint-Germain star, Kylian Mbappe, European football’s hottest property.
He’s believed to have been coveted by the great and the good in the game, with the Liverpool ECHO noting the interest of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool.
The game of brinksmanship between all of them and Haaland’s agent, Mino Raiola, has been fascinating to observe, but of course, only one club will be successful.
It now appears that the decision to who that will be has been made, and it’ll upset the Premier League giants.
MORE: Liverpool’s Salah replacement
According to Cuatro, cited by the Daily Mail, Raiola has given his word to Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, that Haaland will sign for Barca next season as long as the Catalan club can raise the required amounts for the player.
Although Real Madrid were thought to be the favourites to sign the Norwegian, it’s believed that Haaland wants to plough his own furrow rather than sharing top billing with Mbappe, who is expected to move to the Santiago Bernabeu later this year.
Barca’s potential capture of Haaland, which Cuatro say will cost them €30m per year for three seasons plus the option of two more – not to mention Raiola’s commission and the player’s buyout clause – makes more sense when you consider just why the Catalans didn’t renew Lionel Messi after all.
Perhaps Laporta was playing the long game all along, knowing the strength of his relationship with Raiola would keep Barca in the box seat for negotiations when the time was right.