Barcelona hatch Haaland transfer ‘plan’ with Xavi U-turn mooted as Man City star ‘prioritises’ one club

According to reports, Spanish giants FC Barcelona have hatched a “plan” to sign Manchester City sensation Erling Haaland.
Man City paid around £51m to sign Haaland from Borussia Dortmund ahead of the 2022/23 campaign and he has proven to be a sensational signing. He has 81 goals in his 88 appearances for the English outfit across all competitions.
Haaland to Barcelona?
The striker’s general play was questioned by Roy Keane – who labelled him a “League Two player” – after Man City’s 0-0 draw against Arsenal. Unsurprisingly, Pep Guardiola “didn’t agree” with the Man Utd icon’s comments but there is no doubting Haaland’s goalscoring credentials.
Man City will have to make the most of Haaland while he’s in the Premier League as a move to Spain is surely inevitable at some stage in the coming years.
Barcelona or Real Madrid are presumably his most likely next destination and former Man City scout Bojan Krkic Sr. thinks he “prioritises” one club.
“Erling Haaland prioritizes Barcelona. If he has to choose between Barcelona and Madrid, he would go to Barcelona,” Krkic Sr. said in an interview with Spanish outlet Sport.
Regarding their financial situation, he added: “Barcelona is recovering little by little. They are going to return to Camp Nou and that changes a lot in terms of marketing and merchandising. Then investors appear, player sales…”
As Bojan mentions, Barcelona are still facing financial difficulties so it would surely be difficult for them to facilitate a move for Haaland, who is understood to have a release clause in his current contract which is worth around £170m.
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Barcelona are set for a busy summer as head coach Xavi announced earlier this year that he would be leaving the club in the summer.
Since then, Barcelona have progressed in the Champions League and moved up to second in La Liga so club chiefs are keen for Xavi to change his mind.
According to a report from Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona’s top brass are ‘working to convince Xavi to go back on his decision to leave at the end of the season’ as they feel he is ‘best’ for the young players and he is ‘respected by the veterans’.
Haaland ‘plan’
Xavi’s current deal expires in 2025 but Barcelona have the option to extend his contract until 2026 and President Joao Laporta is looking to take advantage of this clause.
It is also been indicated that to tempt Xavi to stay, Laporta intends to ‘make a couple of signings this summer to support the team’ while ‘knowing that in 2025 their goal is Haaland to replace Lewandowski’.