Man City could get a taste of Liverpool's medicine as Barcelona 'obsession' emerges
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Liverpool saw just how big the pull of a giant Spanish club can be earlier this year when boyhood Red Trent Alexander-Arnold opted to quit Anfield to join Real Madrid.
Despite having spent over 20 years tied to the club, Alexander-Arnold felt as though the chance to join the most famous soccer club on the planet was too good to turn down.
And it sounds as though another one of the Premier League's most high-profile players is being eyed for a move to La Liga, with Spanish outlet El Nacional linking Barcelona with a move for Erling Haaland.
Haaland only signed a new nine-and-a-half-year contract at City in January of this year, tying him to the club until the summer of 2034.
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But Barca president Joan Laporta is said to be "obsessed" with the idea of signing Haaland as the club pursues a long-term replacement for Robert Lewandowski.
Lewandowski has scored over 103 goals in 150 appearances for Barca and is one of very few strikers in Europe whose goal-scoring record over his career is comparable to Haaland's.
Lewandowski, though, is 37 now and his contract is due to expire next summer, although Barca does have the option to extend the agreement by a further year.
It is claimed that Barcelona's well-documented financial issues prevented the club from landing Haaland previously, but Laporta is convinced that the Norway international will end up in Catalonia.
Erling Haaland is the Premier League's top scorer so far this season
Haaland's late agent, Mino Raiola, held talks with Barcelona in 2021, when the striker was the hottest young star in world soccer, but Haaland ended up staying at Borussia Dortmund for another season, before joining Manchester City in 2022.
A release clause in Haaland's Dortmund contract became active in 2022, meaning City landed him for a much lower fee than his market value.
Haaland scored his 128th and 129th goals for City on Sunday as he netted a brace in Sunday's Manchester derby, taking him to the top of the Premier League's top scorers chart for the season with five in four appearances — two more than his closest challengers, Viktor Gyokeres and Antoine Semenyo.
El Nacional says that Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez is also viewed as a possible replacement for Lewandowski by Barcelona