Ex-Man City scout predicts Erling Haaland’s Barcelona, Real Madrid ‘priority’ with next move mooted
A former Manchester City scout has predicted where Erling Haaland would prefer to go if he “had to choose” between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Man City paid around £51m to sign Haaland from Bundesliga outfit Borussia Dortmund after activating his release clause. He has scored for fun over the past two seasons as he has netted 81 goals in his 88 appearances.
Haaland to leave Man City?
Haaland’s general play has been questioned at times, with Roy Keane claiming the striker resembled a “League Two player” against Arsenal on Sunday.
But there’s no doubting his goalscoring credentials and Man City may soon face a fight to keep hold of him as he is consistently being linked with Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Last month, Haaland – who is under contract until 2027 – admitted he is not currently focused on penning a new deal.
“I’m really happy, especially with the people I’m surrounded by,” Haaland said during an interview with Man City journalist Sam Lee.
“The manager, the directors, the board, I am really happy I have to say. I say this now, it will probably be a massive headline, tomorrow you never know what the future brings but I am happy. You can write this but you also have to write everything I said before. I am happy.”
When asked if he would be willing to sign a new contract, Haaland replied: “Yeah, my focus is mainly now on the pitch, there’s a lot of games, two days ago a derby, now CL, Sunday is Liverpool so I think I should focus on that.”
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“If he has to choose…”
Bojan Krkic Sr. previously worked at Man City and Barcelona as a scout and he’s the father of former Stoke City star Bojan Krkic.
His Barcelona allegiances may have got the better of him when discussing Haaland, who apparently “prioritises” them over Real Madrid.
“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…”
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Haaland was unable to make a substantial impact against Arsenal over the weekend as Man City were held to a goalless draw at the Etihad.
Following this result and Liverpool’s 2-1 victory against Brighton, Man City are third in the Premier League. They are one point adrift of second-placed Arsenal and two away from table-toppers Liverpool.
Despite this, Haaland is still confident that Man City can win the title. Posting via Instagram, he said: “We’ve done it once, we can do it again!”
