Famous agent Raiola's meeting with Barcelona president Laporta in Turin on Monday led to a flood of new transfer reports that Haaland could travel to Camp Nou next year. However, apart from Barcelona's €1.3 billion debt and will struggle to finance the Dortmund star's deal, there are five other reasons why a transfer is unlikely.
Qualifying for next season's Champions League should be barcelona's real concern right now. Their league form is not good enough, with Harvey's side having just won one of their last five games and are currently five points away from the top four. What's more, with three of their next four games away from home, against Sevilla, Mallorca and Granada, their fixtures didn't get any easier. Surprisingly, Barca have only won once away so far in La Liga this season, so it is far from conclusive to think they should "perform well" to secure promotion.
The Barcelona team showed some of the characteristics that happened to AC Milan in early 2010; mismanagement of the team and money led to the inevitable debt crisis that led to their disappearance in the Champions League for eight years. They are only now on the road to recovery. Why does Haaland have to go to a club in transition, or waste time there? For a superstar who has already played for Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund, it seems illogical to be interested in another transfer in transition. Haaland's time is now, not another two or three years.
After the first few games of experimentation, Xavi found his place as a coach in the current Barcelona team, but it is clear that 4-3-3 is his formation, Tiki Taka is his philosophy, and in the past, mere goalscorers have not performed well in this style of play. Notably, Haaland is better than some of his contemporaries who have tried to play this role in the past, he is a more well-rounded player, but there is no doubt that he is first and foremost concerned about his ability to score goals. He clearly doesn't fit into what some believe to be Barcelona's system, and Haaland may be better helped in a more complete, modern, and urgent system.
If we are willing to accept that Haaland wants to play a key role in Barcelona's recovery, which is a real challenge for someone who is about to reach the top of the football world, then we need to admit that as soon as he arrives here, he immediately dwarfs the status of all the players around him. Pedri, Nico, Garvey and Fati have the potential to become the foundation of Barcelona for the next decade, but at this point they are not close to Haaland's appeal and no one can threaten the norwegian's position. Would someone like Haaland walk into the locker room and sit in a marginal seat? He has the potential to be above the team as a whole and become a presence beyond the club. Having such an obvious MVP player in the locker room may allow the team to recover from losing the last MVP, but it can also be a dangerous and counterproductive situation.
At the end of the day, money aside, the overall plan in front of Haaland will make Barcelona's current situation impossible to compete with other teams. Economically, yes, higher salaries and commissions exist, but the overall incentive for a player – to be competitive in the Champions League, or to win the Premier League – is simply too tempting compared to the role that Barcelona can play. Barca don't have enough food on their plate: rising debt, a game with CVC and a pitch problem that the club needs to address. Unless we assume that Barcelona are still one of the biggest clubs in the world, Haaland has no reason to get involved in all this trouble.