Barcelona will not be signing Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund nor Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain this summer, according to president Joan Laporta, as either deal would be far beyond the reach of the financial capabilities of the club at the moment.
Laporta is certainly right about these two players, arguably the two hottest prospects in world football, warranting extremely high expenses for the clubs that end up signing them.
Mbappe will leave Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent, but despite the fact that the Ligue 1 giants won’t be receiving a transfer fee, there are still the forward’s wages, not unlikely to set a new record, to consider, as well as the sign-on fee which won’t be exactly modest either.
It’s a similar situation with Haaland, or perhaps even more daunting for a potential buyer. The young Norwegian striker will still be under contract with Dortmund at the end of the season, though it is widely believed that the contract contains a release clause set at €75 million, which kicks in this summer. Though that amount may be consider not too large for such a player in today’s market, the 21-year-old will also command extremely high wages, as well as fees reportedly expected to reach as much as the clause itself, to be paid to his father, Alf-Inge Haaland and agent Mino Raiola.
“The conditions I’ve been told about these two deals… We’d never accept to spend those figures, no way. I see both of them really far from Barça,” Laporta told RAC1.
As things stand at the moment, Haaland seems likely to join Manchester City, while the Spanish press practically see Mbappe as a Real Madrid player already.
