Haaland Would Be Wise To Consider Signing For FC Barcelona After Real Madrid Destruction In El Clasico

FC Barcelona’s president Joan Laporta and vice president Rafa Yuste have all but ended the club’s pursuit of Borrusia Dortmund with their recent comments to the press.

“Mateu Alemany, Jordi Cruyff and the staff are working on [signings],” Laporta said via Esport3 over a fortnight ago. “I understand the fans are excited, but there are operations that are very difficult.

“Even if our financial situation is the best it could possibly be, there are some deals that we would still not do for the sake of the club. We won’t do any deals that place the club’s [future] at risk,” he then concluded.

“We have found ourselves in a terrible economic situation that has prevented us from meeting our expectations. As the president said, we have to protect our entity and for that we cannot carry out operations of this magnitude of money,” Yuste later pointed out on Saturday, after saying that the approach for the next generation star is “almost” finished the day before.

A lot has changed in the past 24 hours, however. Since then, Barca have been to the Bernabeu and dismantled a front runner for Haaland’s signature in Real Madrid by a humbling score of 4-0 on their own turf in El Clasico.

Furthermore, transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano reported around six hours before kick off that contrary to popular opinion, the Norwegian has still “made no decision on his future club yet” with his final answer due in the next few days or weeks in an ongoing process.

“There are many rumors about salary, money…,” the Italian journalist continued. “But he’s focused on [the] project, manager and other factors. There’s no pre-agreement with any club. It’s up to Erling,” Romano finished.

If this is the case, then, Haaland – like an alleged 650 million other people around the globe – probably watched El Clasico last night which was solid proof that there is indeed a plan in place at Camp Nou under Xavi Hernandez.

Haaland family spokesman Jan Aage Fjortoft – who has previously put Manchester City and Real Madrid in a two-horse race for the 21-year-old’s capture and dubbed Barca’s quest “propaganda” – was clearly impressed too.

And though the Blaugrana cannot meet match their rivals in terms of financial muscle, with the cost of delivering Haaland put at around $340mn all in, Xavi and Laporta can offer perhaps the strongest sporting proposal of all which would mean far more for his legacy in the long-term.

At Real Madrid, he is likely to be overshadowed by an incoming Kylian Mbappe with Karim Benzema also showing no signs of letting down in the number ‘9’ role. At City, he would be just another cog in the wheel at an outfit closing in on its fourth Premier League crown in five seasons.

In Barca’s colors, however, there is the chance to be a part of something special. To resurrect a fallen giant already waking from its slumber, to build a dynasty and a name, and stand among the likes of Luis Suarez and Ronaldo Nazario in club history while remembered forever by wounded Culers for choosing a project over financial gain.