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Barcelona are planning to make signing Erling Haaland a priority this summer.
Barcelona sunk Real Sociedad with six goals last night which included a brace from Lionel Messi. The team looks to be taking off under Ronald Koeman and things are finally falling in place for the Blaugrana as they prepare to engage Atletico Madrid in a title race that looks set to go down to the wire.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the top stories involving Barcelona from 22 March 2021.
Eric Abidal says he could have brought Neymar back in 2019
Former Barcelona sporting director Eric Abidal said he was working on bringing Neymar Jr. back to the Camp Nou when he was still in charge in 2019. Abidal claims he had plans of bringing Neymar back but the club chose to sign Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid instead.
He told The Telegraph:
Ten days before the end of the transfer window, I went to Paris to talk with Leonardo [PSG’s sporting director] and I was with my CEO, and we were talking about Neymar.
“I think if the CEO goes to Paris Saint-Germain, it’s because we can sign him. If we didn't sign Griezmann before, I think 100 per cent we could have re-signed Neymar because what we needed was a winger and when Neymar was in Barcelona he was amazing.
“This is not about which player is better, it was what I thought was the position we needed at the time. The team needed a real winger. The president decided to sign Griezmann.
“One of the arguments against Neymar was that he had a court case against the club, so it’s not easy. They said he would have to stop the court process if he wanted to come back. That wasn’t my problem because I was not at the club when that dispute happened. In my view, I could sign the player, but it didn’t happen.”
Barcelona to sell Junior Firpo and Norberto Neto
Joan Laporta has taken the decision to sell Junior Firpo and Norberto Neto, according to El Desmarque. According to reports, both Arsenal and West Ham United are interested in the duo.
Joan Laporta wants the club to make a statement in the summer transfer window despite being cash-strapped. They are hoping to offload some of the deadwood in order to furnish funds for their transfer activities.
Firpo, Neto, Philippe Coutinho and Samuel Umtiti to this effect. Neto is reportedly available for a sum of £14 million while Firpo is rated at £18 million.
Joan Laporta wants to make Erling Haaland a statement signing
Barcelona seem to be finally recovering from the implosion at the club. Things are looking up following Joan Laporta being elected president of the club. Lionel Messi is reportedly likely to consider staying at Barcelona. Joan Laporta is planning ahead of the summer transfer window and wants to sign Erling Haaland.
Haaland is one of the most coveted strikers in world football right now and several European giants are willing to queue up to sign him in the summer. As per Sport, Laporta considers Erling Haaland a 'dream signing' and believes he can make it happen.
Laporta wants to sign Haaland from Borussia Dortmund to prove to the world that Barcelona have well and truly returned. He believes the signing will send a message to rival clubs and will go a long way towards improving Barcelona's image on a global scale.
