How Barcelona Hope to Sign Man City Striker Erling Haaland—Report

The prolific No. 9 is a primary target for one of Barça’s presidential candidates.

Erling Haaland (left) has been constantly linked to Barcelona. | Robbie Jay Barratt-AMA/Judit Cartiel-UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images

Barcelona are reported to be playing the long game with Erling Haaland, hoping to have a “preferential” understanding with Manchester City if Víctor Font becomes president.

Font has previously vowed to “pick up the phone and call” Lionel Messi if elected, with recruiting Haaland also a central pillar of his campaign—presidential races are often run on transfer promises and Joan Laporta was negotiating a deal for David Beckham while still just a candidate in 2003.

In an effort to make good on delivering Haaland, SPORT reports that Font had two of his team visit Manchester City’s hotel in Madrid this week.

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Barcelona Presidential Candidate Negotiating Haaland Deal

Víctor Font is using a future Haaland transfer in his campaign. | Javier Borrego/Europa Press/Getty Images

Manchester City were in Spain for Wednesday’s Champions League match against Real Madrid—which didn’t go so well—but this became an opportunity when Font’s advisors Carles Planchart and Xavier Aguilar managed to get a meeting with City chief executive Ferran Soriano and sporting director Hugo Viana.

The pair were pictured leaving by the newspaper and SPORT’s story goes that Haaland was a subject of the discussions that took place. The candidate has previously said his would-be sporting department is “extremely active” and “meeting with clubs” to have options ready for Hansi Flick.

A transfer any time soon is not realistic. The Norwegian striker, who has 363 career goals by the age of 25, signed a 10-year contract in 2024 and is valued by Transfermarkt at $230.6 million. Instead, what Font is seeking for Barcelona is some kind of agreement whereby the Blaugrana would be front of the line and have a formal advantage over rivals such as Real Madrid if Haaland was available.

That might not be for years, but if successful it’s as close as Font can get to ‘signing’ Haaland as his election gift to the Barcelona Culers. The ballot takes place on March 15, after which one of Font or Joan Laporta, seeking to extend his second spell in office, will be the Barcelona president.

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Haaland’s Agent Clarifies Man City Status

Rafaela Pimenta negotiates contracts a specific way. | Andrea Staccioli/Insidefoto/LightRocket/Getty Images

Even if talks were held with Manchester City, that hasn’t reached Haaland or his camp yet.

Agent Rafaela Pimenta rebuffed the idea that the player has any interest in moving.

“We have a lot of respect and admiration for Barcelona, but there hasn’t been any contact whatsoever regarding a potential transfer,” Pimenta told La Sexta.

“The player renewed his contract a few months ago, he’s very happy at Manchester City. Everything is going very well for him and we really have nothing to discuss about a transfer when everything is so good at City.”

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Does Haaland Have a Release Clause?

Erling Haaland has struggled with injury recently. | Mark Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Haaland’s contract to 2034 gives Manchester City a considerable level of security because it means he cannot leave as a free agent until a few days before he celebrates his 34th birthday.

However, the decision to go—whenever that happens—could ultimately still be his.

Pimenta, Haaland’s representative and Mino Raiola’s former right hand who inherited the larger-than-life agent’s stable when he passed away in 2022, has previously stated that she has never negotiated a contract that doesn’t include a release clause.

The value of any such clause in Haaland’s contract is not known—his last deal was also a closely guarded secret. But it’s unlikely to be the kind of $1.15 billion release clause associated with top Real Madrid and Barcelona players, meeting Spain’s mandatory requirement but totally unrealistic—the Catalans learned that lesson the hard way when Paris Saint-Germain poached Neymar.

Pimenta insists her clients always have to have the “key” in their own hands, which implies a number that could feasibly be triggered by a buying club—assuming they are let in on the amount.

“I don’t like it when the player has no freedom to decide,” the Brazilian lawyer said in 2022. “I have done all the contracts in this agency in 25 years. All of them. There wasn’t a single time when a player said ‘I want to go’ and they could not.”

Haaland’s career to date has been defined by release clauses, which stacks up given Pimenta’s philosophy. It was a $24 million clause which paved the way for him to join Borussia Dortmund from Red Bull Salzburg in January 2020, and a $63 million clause triggered by Manchester City two-and-a-half years later. Both times, the fee was lower than market standards to facilitate a transfer when the player himself wanted.

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When Could Haaland Leave Man City?

Haaland has achieved so much at Man City already. | Shaun Brooks/CameraSport/Getty Images

The two-time Premier League Golden Boot winner has done it all with Manchester City, notably helping the club to the treble in his debut season. As it stands, he is 87 goals behind Sergio Agüero’s all-time City record, which stands at 260 and is very conceivably breakable.

The timing of his eventual departure could depend on his own personal ambitions, whether he has any desire to test himself with other elite clubs across multiple countries.

But factors out of his control also loom. City are still to learn any consequence of the 115 Premier League charges against them. Haaland might also feel differently about City if and when manager Pep Guardiola leaves, which could be this year or next.

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