Barcelona told to forget £64m signing, wages will be out of reach

Barcelona have been told to forget about signing Erling Haaland next summer owing to their ongoing financial troubles. La Liga president Javier Tebas is certain that the Catalan club will not be able to afford the wages the Norwegian will demand even if they manage to match the going asking rate in terms of his transfer fee.

Haaland is widely expected to leave Borussia Dortmund next summer, and as per a rumoured clause in his contract, the free scoring forward is expected to be available for a bargain £64 million. The low transfer fee has put every top club across Europe on alert and there is certain to be a queue for his signature if he decides to leave the Bundesliga club next June.

Mino Raiola indicated that Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are among clubs that his client could join, and even held a meeting with the Catalan club's president Joan Laporta recently. However, Tebas is certain that Barcelona will be out of the running when the wages on demand come to light.

"Barcelona are in the 4-1 rule and Haaland is in the hands of Raiola. A Raiola that doesn't sell sweets, what he sells is expensive," Tebas said, as quoted on Dairio Sport. "If you ask me if I think it's possible, I tell you now. It's impossible that Barcelona's salary level lets them sign this player."

The Catalan club's recent overspending has seen their wage bill balloon beyond control, and they are now desperately trying to offload high earning first-team stars or persuading them to take pay cuts. Barcelona's spending cap, which was over €300 million last season, has been slashed to €97 million, making it impossible for the club to sign high earning players for the moment.

Raiola's comments caused a furore in Dortmund, with the German club still not ready to accept that Haaland could seek pastures new next summer. The super agent then backtracked and suggested that the Norway international could remain in the Bundesliga for one more campaign before leaving in 2023.

"The four clubs I have mentioned about Haaland's future were just an example to say that, when he leaves, he will go to one of the top 15 European clubs," Raiola wrote. "Now Erling's focus is solely on football, there are no negotiations with any club. And I reaffirm what I said - it's not a sure thing that he will leave this summer, maybe it will be in the one after that."