Barcelona baulk at Man City superstar’s €175 million valuation, 2025 move unlikely

Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of chatter about how FC Barcelona intend to go after the signing of Manchester City phenom Erling Haaland in the summer of 2025.

It has been suggested that Barcelona president Joan Laporta sees the 23-year-old goalscoring superstar as a dream signing for next year, a way to counter Real Madrid’s impending acquisition of Kylian Mbappe as well as an avenue to boost his election campaign.

Barcelona rule out Haaland move in 2025

However, now, SPORT reports that Barcelona have ruled out the possibility of signing Erling Haaland from Manchester City in the summer of next year due to the costs involved.

Speculations have been rife ever since Haaland’s agent, Rafaela Pimenta, visited Barcelona and held a meeting with the Catalan club’s sporting director Deco.

The topic of Haaland was also discussed and Laporta & co. have been aware of how much it would cost to sign the Norwegian centre-forward.

At Barça, Haaland is a player who is very much liked and, strategically, it would be a coup if they managed to sign him during the summer of 2025.

But it is also true that at Barça, as of today, the operation is unfeasible from an economic point of view, whether it is for a few months or a year from now. His valuation is too high, as is his salary.

Haaland is economically unfeasible for Barcelona. (Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images)

As things stand, Haaland’s signing would cost €175 million, thanks to a release clause in his contract with Manchester City, which will reduce from the summer of 2026 onwards.

While there may be a scenario wherein Man City might be forced into accepting a lower fee, especially if they are sanctioned by the Premier League, Barcelona do not have faith in such a situation materialising.

It is true that Haaland would like to play in La Liga after success in both the Bundesliga and the Premier League.

And it is clear that Barça will have to sign a top striker in the near future with Robert Lewandowski entering the final phase of his contract as a Blaugrana.

The Pole’s current contract runs until 2026, although the final year of the deal is optional and depends on him meeting a certain set of objectives during the 2024/25 season.

The departure of Lewandowski, should his contract be terminated in 2025, would free up a large chunk of the wage bill, but even that is not enough to dream of galactic signings like Haaland.