As has already been established, Barcelona president Joan Laporta has identified Erling Haaland as a ‘dream target’ for the near future.
The Manchester City superstar is understood to be the Barça chief’s greatest desire to reinforce the team either next year or in 2026.
However, recent reports suggested that Real Madrid may have a better chance of signing the Norwegian international, who dreams of playing in La Liga.
Real Madrid favourites for Haaland signing
Backing those claims, Sky Sports (h/t SPORT) now reports that Erling Haaland is interested in the Real Madrid project.
In fact, the report states that the 24-year-old Manchester City megastar has informed those in his close circles that he wants to be a Real Madrid player in the near future.
If true, this will come as a blow for Laporta and Barcelona’s ambitions of wanting to bring Haaland to the club in the next couple of years.
The Norwegian international has a contract with Manchester City until the summer of 2027 but it contains a release clause in excess of €150 million.
Furthermore, the potential departure of Pep Guardiola at the end of the season could accelerate the chances of Haaland’s exit from the Etihad as well.
Man City, for their part, are already eyeing Viktor Gyokeres of Sporting CP as a possible replacement should that happen.
Either way, Barcelona must remain vigilant to any developments surrounding the Norwegian superstar if they are serious about signing him or risk seeing him end up in their rivals’ camp.
The Blaugrana will need to sign a top-quality centre-forward to take over from Robert Lewandowski sooner rather than later. Whether it will be Haaland or someone else, remains to be seen.
