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Barcelona’s hopes of signing Borussia Dortmund’s prolific striker Erling Haaland this summer have been boosted by sports lawyer Enric Ripoll who says the cash-strapped Catalan giants can land the Norwegian “without breaking any financial rules.”
Dortmund has reportedly slapped a €150 million ($176m) price tag on Haaland this summer, a daunting figure at the best of times but particularly for Barcelona, a club with reported debts of €1.2 billion ($1.5b).
Haaland is wanted by a host of Europe’s top sides after impressing for Dortmund in the Bundesliga and the Champions League, but Barcelona president Joan Laporta has made the young Norwegian his “number one signing target” this summer, according to Marca.
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How Can Barcelona Afford Haaland?
Ripoll told a ‘Winning in the offices’ webinar by the Sports Law Institute that it would be “hard” but “feasible” for Barcelona to land Haaland and went on to explain how such a transfer could go ahead, as reported by Sport.
“One way is by putting more weight in the variables of the transfer than on the fixed cost,” he explained. “That helps because when the coronavirus crisis is over, the immediate problem of liquidity will end, and that, you assume, is when these variables have to be paid.”
There is also a possibility that UEFA could relax Financial Fair Play rules in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic which may work in Barca’s favor. Ripoll added, “The debts have increased and with the current rules, many clubs should be sanctioned, but these debts aren’t because of bad management but because of the crisis.”
FFP rules are to be “undergo dramatic change” because of Covid-19 with UEFA believing “new rules should concentrate on clubs’ wage levels and the scale of fees in the transfer market,” according to The Guardian’s Paul MacInnes.
Haaland Compared to Lewandowski
Haaland has 21 Bundesliga goals in 21 games this season for Borussia Dortmund which is one reason why has caught the eye of clubs across Europe.
Yet the Norwegian is still some way behind topscorer Robert Lewandowski who has netted an incredible 35 goals in just 25 league games for Bayern Munich.
Dortmund technical director Matthias Sammer spoke to ESPN about the differences between the two players and how Haaland is on his way to reaching Lewandowski’s level.
“Erling has other factors. He is more forceful, Lewandowski is smoother. Robert is fast on the distance but does not have as much pace as Erling. Robert has more experience in the tight spaces, because of his career path he has the perfect judgment for situations,” he said. “Robert is absolute world-class, Erling is on his way there. He has the hunger in him. I have never seen anything comparable in terms of stats and lust for goals at this age.”
Haaland scored twice in a 2-2 draw with Koln last time out for Dortmund and is now on international duty with Norway for World Cup qualifiers against Turkey and Montenegro.
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