Erling Haaland is speeding up talks with Barcelona as he looks for a way out of Premier League champions Man City, according to reports.
The Citizens initially made a positive start to the new campaign but they have now only won one in their last 12 matches in all competitions.
It’s an unprecedented run of form for a Guardiola side with Man City winning the last four Premier League titles on the bounce.
Man City are currently seventh in the Premier League and now only five points ahead of Man Utd, who they lost 2-1 nine days ago in the Manchester derby.
A report last week insisted that Haaland – who has scored 18 goals in 24 appearances this season – is losing patience with the project at Man City despite Guardiola recently signing a new contract.
It added that Haaland ‘can’t stand Pep Guardiola any longer and asks to speed up negotiations’ with Barcelona ahead of a potential transfer.
And now reports in Spain claim that Haaland has ‘stepped up talks’ with Barcelona as the Norwegian is ‘starting to get tired of the current situation’ at Man City.
Their terrible run of form, the Premier League’s FFP case against the club and uncertainty over a number of players in the squad has led Haaland ‘to consider a change of scenery in the next summer market’.
Haaland ‘has already finished his adventure’ at Man City and the 24-year-old ‘has rejected all the offers of an extension that have been presented to him so far, and has already dared to contact several entities that could try to sign him’.
Barcelona ‘continues to be one of his favourite destinations’ and with a move to Real Madrid ‘completely ruled out, due to the presence of Vinicius Junior or Kylian Mbappe, who would take away his prominence, his desire now is to end up at the Camp Nou’.
Haaland and his camp have now ‘resumed talks with Joan Laporta and Deco to end up at Barca, and be the galactico who arrives in 2025’.
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Paul Pogba has been linked with a sensational move to Manchester, but with Man City, and former Man Utd striker Louis Saha reckons their potential interest could force the Red Devils to think about re-signing the Frenchman.
“It’s a difficult one. An agent, or somebody that doesn’t fully understand the Manchester City and Manchester United rivalry, would tell him to make that move because it’s a huge club and it could help him get back into the France squad ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
“I wouldn’t want him to go there because I’m a Manchester United fan and I don’t really believe that the move makes sense for Paul because he’s a loyal guy. At the same time, it’s a huge opportunity for him and I wouldn’t blame him if he took the opportunity because it’s his career.
“I hope it’s just rumours and I hope that it will make Manchester United consider re-signing him. He’s always been able to provide goals and assists and he’s always had quality. He’s an unpredictable player and I’m sure the likes of Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte would love to play with him because he’s able to pick a pass.”
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