Xavi Will Push For FC Barcelona To Sign Haaland

The big news out of France and Catalonia on Friday is that FC Barcelona have made a move to sign Kylian Mbappe as a free agent from Paris Saint Germain this summer.

Previously linked with bitter rivals Real Madrid, the French World Cup winner is reportedly open to talks with the Blaugrana and wants to choose sporting projects based on their merit over personal financial gain, with his current Qatari-backed employers reportedly offering him €1mn ($1.1mn) to stay put at the Parc des Princes.

L’Equipe claim that the Catalans believe an approach for Mbappe will turn out to be cheaper than the €300mn ($330mn) project to sign Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.

While Mbappe’s potential next generation rival in the race to become the best player on the planet after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has a release clause of €75mn ($82.5mn) for starters, hefty commission fees of around €40mn ($44mn) must also be paid to his agent Mino Raiola and the striker’s father Alfe-Inge Haaland to consider.

Despite this, As report on Friday that Barca first team coach Xavi Hernandez has Haaland as a “priority objective in his project” and “plans to insist on the need to sign him” during an upcoming meeting of the club’s sporting area which will be led by president Joan Laporta and take place in the next few days – most likely before Barca battle for second place in La Liga with Sevilla at Camp Nou on April 3.

As say that Xavi will try to “give this operation a boost” while aware that there is an April 30 deadline set for Haaland to make a decision and will insist on the need to sign him to the point that the coach is “willing to offer himself again to talk to the player and try to convince him of the whims of the Blaugrana project” of which Haaland would be a “great cornerstone”.

Though Xavi is aware that the operation might be unaffordable and that his club can’t match the likes of Manchester City or Real Madrid when it comes to financial muscle, he remains optimistic and thinks that the 4-0 dismantling of Real Madrid in El Clasico could “serve as a stimulus” to sway Haaland’s head.