Barcelona put five up for sale with Haaland eyed in dream, new-look attack
Barcelona are looking to offload as many as five big-name stars this summer in order to raise funds for the signing of Erling Haaland.
Haaland is a man in demand thanks to his outstanding goalscoring form over the past couple of years. Since joining Borussia Dortmund in January 2020, he has an astonishing 47 goals from 48 games.
He is expected to be sold this summer as some of the world’s top clubs scramble over themselves to land the Norwegian goal machine.
Several Premier League suitors have been linked and a report on Saturday named one north-west giant at the front of the queue.
However, the 20-year-old is also very much wanted in La Liga. He has been made a priority signing of Joan Laporte’s new Barca revolution.
With finances tight at Barcelona, signing him won’t be easy. However, Marca claims Laporta is willing to sacrifice five stars to bring in much needed revenue.
Philippe Coutinho, Samuel Umtiti, Martin Braithwaite, Junior Firpo and Antoine Griezmann are all up for sale. Selling the quartet will likely raise around €160m, with Coutinho and Griezmann the largest of those funds recouped.
Furthermore, the sale of Coutinho will also help avoid the trigger for another payment Barca owe Liverpool for the Brazilian.
The La Liga title chasers could also look to cash in on Ousmane Dembele. He was the subject of interest from Manchester United last summer. While United are unlikely to go back in for him, he could be moved on for the right price.
Messi knows Barcelona have a great future - Ronald Koeman
Lionel Messi knows Barcelona are on ‘the right path’ and have a ‘great future’ despite being knocked out of the Champions League by PSG, according to head coach Ronald Koeman.
The Spanish publication claims Barcelona want to use the funds to make a bid to lure Haaland from Dortmund. But he’s not the only forward they want to sign, with Sergio Aguero and Memphis Depay also wanted on frees. Laporte’s plan is to pair up Lionel Messi with two from Haaland, Aguero and Depay in a dream new attack.
Eric Garcia, David Alaba and Georginio Wijnaldum are all also on their radar.
Were Laporte to offload the five players in exchange for Haaland and several free agents, it would look like great business. Ronald Koeman’s side are six points adrift in the La Liga title race this season. They also exited the Champions League after a last-16 defeat to PSG.
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Wijnaldum move to Barcelona ‘almost done’
Wijnaldum, meanwhile, is in the final stages of securing a ‘dream’ move away from Anfield, according to a report.
The Dutchman’s future has proved one of the main sub-plots of Liverpool’s season so far.
Wijnaldum’s contract expires at the end of the campaign and no concrete news over an extension has so far surfaced.
Indeed, the player himself admitted earlier this week that he had “no news” over his situation.
Barcelona wanted to sign the 30-year-old last summer, but their crippling financial situation prevented a deal.
But with the prospect of Wijnaldum becoming a free agent, the Spanish giants have retained – and increased – their interest.
As such, reports claims a deal to take him to Camp Nou is ’95 per cent done’.
The report, quoting a source, claims that he has dreamed of moving to Barca since boyhood.
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