Thursday was a busy day for Erling Haaland’s father as well as his agent, Mino Raiola, according to Marca. The pair met Barcelona president Joan Laporta in the morning to discuss the blaugrana’s interest in Haaland before travelling south to the Spanish capital to learn Real Madrid’s intentions regarding the Norwegian.
Haaland is, along with Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe, the hottest prospect in European football right now. The marksman has scored 21 goals in 21 games for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga this season, as well as star turns like the one that single-handedly saw the German club defeat Sevilla in the Champions League last 16.
Both Barcelona and Madrid are in the market for a capable centre-forward. Barcelona never replaced Luis Suarez when they allowed him to join Atletico Madrid last season while los blancos are over-reliant on the ageing Karim Benzema. The plan had been for Haaland to stay at Dortmund until next summer, when an informal release clause would come into effect. But the incredible nature of Haaland’s development has accelerated interest in him.
