ERLING HAALAND’S path to Barcelona has been cleared – setting up a mouthwatering head-to-head battle with Kylian Mbappe that could rival the golden years of Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo.
With their El Clasico rivals Real poised to break the bank to get Mbappe from PSG, Barcelona are being promised Norwegian sensation Haaland by hopeful future president Joan Laporta.
Erling Haaland is poised to go to Barcelona, claims hopeful future president Joan Laporta
Real Madrid’s transfer policy is geared towards luring PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe
Laporta is favourite to return as president to the club he led between 2003 and 2010 and has revealed he is ready to lure Haaland to the Nou Camp if he wins the election on March 7.
When asked by ESPN about Haaland, he said: If we have to improve the team, I already have the cards ready for the players
I have the cards to face all situations. Barça supporters can be sure that their club will soon be prosperous again.
Borussia Dortmund are desperate to keep Haaland – even willing to let Jadon Sancho leave to keep the jewel in their crown – but a move from Barcelona may prove tough to resist.
And that could return not only Barcelona but La Liga to the glory days – with Real Madrid’s transfer policy over the last two years solely focused on getting Mbappe in their famous white shirt.
The French superstar grew up idolising Ronaldo and would hope to emulate his incredible feats at the Bernabeu – with friends now sure he will end up in the Spanish capital.
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Lionel Messi may have to pass his torch as the jewel in Barcelona’s crown to Haaland
Cristiano Ronaldo wowed fans for nine years at Real Madrid but left in 2018 for Juventus
Mbappe’s former team-mate Jese – the striker who played for both PSG and Real – said last week: “He would love to go to Real Madrid
“His idol has always been Cristiano. He loves Madrid and I am sure he will play there one day.”
And with both Mbappe and Haaland taking their incredible talents to new heights this season, excited fans have started branding them the new Messi and Ronaldo – with debate already raging over who is destined for bigger glory.
Haaland showed his amazing technique with an acrobatic volley against Dortmund’s bitter rivals Schalke last weekend.
It came just days after Mbappe put Barca to the sword with a hat-trick in the Champions League.
Laporte presided over Messi’s rise to become one of football’s greatest icons during his first reign at the Catalan giants – and he wants Haaland to be the poster boy for round two.
Messi’s only equal during that time was 300 miles east in Madrid in the impeccably-built shape of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Mbappe and Haaland have been outshining the two legends in the Champions League
With Ronaldo breaking every record going in Real colours from 2009 to 2018, fans were treated to nine years of El Clasico battles with the world’s two greatest players going head to head.
Now, with Ronaldo at Juventus and Messi’s future at Barca uncertain, Mbappe and Haaland could take up their mantles.
They are well on their way. Haaland at just 20 years old has an amazing 18 Champions League goals – far more than Messi and Ronaldo at the same age put together.
Mbappe – with 142 club goals to his name aged just 22 – has also outscored both Messi and Ronaldo’s club football totals at the same age.
The young duo are also outshining the two legends currently. Ronaldo and Messi have eight and seven goals in the past two seasons in the Champions League.
Mbappe is ahead of them with 10, while Haaland is way out in front on an incredible 18.
With Barcelona and Real Madrid both down on their luck – trailing an Atletico Madrid team beaten by Chelsea in La Liga – capturing the two new world superstars would put Spanish football back at Europe’s top table.
We may even be in for a return to the glory days of El Clasico featuring the world’s two most exciting players duelling it out.
Dortmund crush Schalke 4-0 in Ruhr derby
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
