Erling Haaland arrived at Manchester City in 2022 for a measly reported fee of £51m and their Premier League rivals are becoming increasingly desperate for the freakish goalscoring machine to leave for pastures new.
Luckily for City’s foes, Pep Guardiola’s side have the small matter of over 100 charges of alleged Financial Fair Play breaches hanging over their shoulders and this could speed up Haaland’s exit.
Even without these charges, Haaland’s exit became a hot topic virtually as soon as he signed for Man City. Especially in Spain as their agenda-influenced media attempts to drum up speculation.
While Haaland’s reported transfer stance tends to be overly-dramatised, it does feel like he – a la Jude Bellingham – already has his next career steps mapped out in his head and he’s likely to tick off a few more elite European leagues before he calls time on his career.
Over the past month alone, Haaland has been linked with five elite European clubs. So, naturally, we have decided to rank these interested teams on their chances of signing the Man City superstar…
5) Manchester United
The Red Devils have made more than their fair share of cock-ups post-Sir Alex Ferguson and one of their biggest came at the end of 2019 as they failed to beat Borussia Dortmund in the race to sign Haaland.
This was the closest Man Utd have come to signing Haaland and will ever come to signing Haaland as they have little to no chance of snatching him from their arch-rivals.
This has not prevented INEOS from sniffing around in search of a miracle, though. A recent report claimed Man Utd and Chelsea were ‘willing to make a record offer’ to snatch Haaland away from Man City.
Man Utd and other Premier League clubs may be given the chance to sign one or two City stars if they are expelled from the top flight. But let’s face it, Man Utd would probably get Matheus Nunes.
READ: Man City ‘bombshell’: Guardiola has ‘Plan B’ next destination after England appoint Tuchel
4) Chelsea
A move to Stamford Bridge is slightly more likely, we reckon. But there is not much in it.
Bafflingly, Chelsea failed to sign a striker in the summer despite Napoli’s willingness to sell long-term target Victor Osimhen.
A certain ‘break clause’ means Osimhen to Chelsea could still be on the cards for January, but this deal will likely be in the bin again if the Blues are given hope of signing Haaland.
Chelsea’s start to the season under head coach Enzo Maresca has been surprisingly positive and signing a striker of Haaland’s calibre could be the final piece of the jigsaw required to turn them into Premier League title contenders.
A fantasy transfer uniting Haaland and Man Utd would involve City selling to an arch-rival, and this is less of a stumbling block with Chelsea, but the prolific Norwegian remains more likely to move abroad when he decides to leave the Etihad.
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3) Paris Saint-Germain
Arsenal recently proved why they don’t need to ‘nick a player off Man Utd’ as they cruised past PSG in the Champions League earlier this month.
Kylian Mbappe’s exit from PSG provided the French giants with an opportunity to step out from under his shadow, but the start of this journey has been difficult as they were exposed by Arsenal in the Champions League and sit second in Ligue Un.
PSG still have money coming out of their ears, but the years they spent having their pants pulled down by Mbappe have contributed to Luis Enrique’s side being left behind other elite European clubs as they have long been the butt of the joke.
PSG would be able to put a financial package on the table for Haaland which far exceeds what he could earn with other European teams. But the glamour of Les Parisiens has waned significantly and Ligue Un is hardly the most enticing league in the world, so the Man City star’s decision to ‘reject’ their offer is justified.
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2) Real Madrid
The summer arrivals of Kylian Mbappe and Endrick have strengthened what was already a stupidly good team assembled by Don Carlo at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Mbappe did not get off to the best of starts following his long-awaited free transfer to Real Madrid, but he settled down before the international break and has eight goal involvements in eleven outings.
Previously used as an explosive left-winger, Mbappe has been moved centrally by Carlo Ancelotti, starting up front in the Italian’s preferred four-four-f***ing-two formation and his more fashionable 4-3-3.
Real Madrid seemingly have endless funds at their disposal and if they wanted Haaland, they would likely get him. But, intriguingly, talk over his proposed move to join Mbappe has gone noticeably quiet following the Frenchman’s arrival.
Ancelotti arguably already has the best attack in the world at his disposal, so his next priority may be to improve his defence. This may be to the detriment of Liverpool, who could be left helpless as they bid farewell to one of their key stars.
1) FC Barcelona
Hansi Flick’s side are most strongly linked with Haaland as non-updates are being published daily ahead of his proposed move to FC Barcelona.
Thirty-six-year-old Robert Lewandowski has rolled back the years at the start of this season, netting 12 goals in his 11 outings across all competitions. But his age will be a worry for Barcelona and they will soon have the unenviable task of replacing the Poland international.
Unsurprisingly, Haaland stands out as the obvious option to step in and potentially outscore Lewandowski, but – especially with Man City demanding a ‘world-record’ transfer fee – Barcelona’s lingering financial difficulties will likely cause difficulty as they pursue the 24-year-old.
But Barcelona have been creative when finding ways to land recent signings and they will try more tricks with Haaland. Whether it be a straight swap or cash-plus-player exchange, Joan Laporta and Deco will do everything possible to sign the striker.
In the end, Barcelona should find a way to make it happen and this deal would set up an almighty rivalry between Haaland and Mbappe as they tussle over the Ballon d’Or for many years to come.
