After stories emerged that Barcelona presidential candidate Victor Font had been negotiating a priority option for Manchester City forward Erling Haaland, that story has been shot down by his agent. The Norwegian forward has long been linked with a move to La Liga at some point in his career, but there is no sign that it will be occurring any time soon.
With City in Madrid to face Real Madrid in the Champions League, two members of his team, Carles Planchart and Xavier Aguilar were seen exiting the same hotel as Manchester City Sporting Director Hugo Viana. Shortly after, reports emerged that they were negotiating a right of first refusal clause for Haaland. Earlier in the day, Font had claimed that Joan Laporta, his presidential rival, talking about the potential signing of Julian Alvarez as hot air.
Haaland agent denies Barcelona contacts
Speaking to El Chiringuito, Haaland’s agent Rafaela Pimienta moved swiftly to deny the story.
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“I have often said that we have a lot of respect and admiration for FC Barcelona, but there has been no contact whatsoever, either with Haaland or with his manager at FC Barcelona or with any potential transfer targets.”
“The player renewed his contract a few months ago. He’s very happy at Manchester City, he’s doing very well, and we really have nothing to discuss regarding a transfer when everything is as good as it is at Manchester City.”
Barcelona’s fraught number nine search
The latest on the idea of bringing in Julian Alvarez is that Barcelona consider him too expensive, Haaland’s one-time back-up. The Blaugrana have also been linked with Haaland’s current alternative at City, Omar Marmoush, but he has less of a track record at the top level. As things stand, the priority for Barcelona is signing a number nine, but there is no clear target.
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