Haaland’s Potential Exit: Five Clubs Ready to Pounce If Man City Are Forced to Sell

Manchester City’s guilty verdict handed down by the Premier League has potentially opened a can of worms on the blue side of Manchester. Football fans are pondering what punishment the Cityzens should face should the charges hold up, one of which involves City being expelled from the Premier League.

If that does come to pass, then a number of star players will leave the Etihad Stadium, with striker Erling Haaland undoubtedly the pick of the bunch. There will not be a shortage of suitors for the Premier League hitman should the Norwegian is permitted to leave City.

Here, we run through the potential destinations for the 26-year-old if City are forced into a sale.

Arsenal

A simple one, yes, but Arsenal need a striker. Kai Havertz is an effective option for Mikel Arteta, but his injury issues means he struggles to strike up a consistent run of games. Viktor Gyokeres is more of an out-and-out number nine, yet the Swede’s inconsistency in front of goal has seen the former Sporting CP man drop behind Havertz in the pecking order.

Haaland’s all-round game has also improved markedly over the last 18 months, meaning he’d be a fine fit on the frontline for Arteta’s side. The Spaniard, after all, wants his leading striker to drop deep and link up play. Haaland does so to a high standard nowadays, while his goalscoring exploits means he’d be the perfect fit.

Whether the striker opts to jump ship to the Emirates Stadium remains to be seen. One thing is clear, though, if City are forced into a firesale, then Arsenal will be one side fronting the queue.

Barcelona

Barcelona saw Marcus Rashford, Ferran Torres and Robert Lewandowski depart last summer. They replaced the former duo with Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi. The La Liga giants pressed hard to sign Atletico Madrid star Julian Alvarez. The capital outfit refused to budge on the €500m release clause in his contract, however.

Barca would be wise to move on from any pursuit of Alvarez, and instead push to lure Haaland to Spotify Camp Nou should City need to sell the striker. The number of chances the Blaugrana create combined with the speed with which they attack opponents means the Norway star would have a field day on the Barcelona frontline.

Of course, he’d need to oust Europe’s in-form forward Raphinha. Conversely, Haaland would be putting up similar numbers to the Brazilian if he was supplemented by the likes of Gordon, Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo.

Real Madrid

Naturally if City come to sell Haaland, then Real Madrid won’t pass up the chance to land the Premier League star. While Jose Mourinho is able to call upon forwards Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior, the addition of Haaland would take their frontline to a whole other level.

Fans would salivate at the prospect of a Haaland-Mbappe forward partnership, which would be undoubtedly the best in Europe, let alone Spain. Additionally, a switch to the Bernabeu would see Haaland and Jude Bellingham reunite, the pair having played together at Borussia Dortmund. He’d also link up with former City teammate Bernardo Silva.

He’d be a Galactico addition to Real Madrid, and one that would sit incredibly well with supporters.

Bayern Munich

Harry Kane will leave Bayern Munich before long. The England captain is close to penning a new deal with the Bavarian powerhouse, but at 33 years of age; Bayern will move Kane on sooner rather than later. And they’ll want a world class striker to fill the void on the frontline once the former Tottenham Hotspur man departs.

In this instance, Haaland would be an elite replacement for Kane at the Allianz Arena. He knows the league well owing to his time with Borussia Dortmund and, like Kane, would score goals for fun in one of the most dominant sides in Europe.

Conversely, his Dortmund links may rule out a switch to Bayern. Haaland’s history with the German side could see the striker decide to move elsewhere should he opt to leave City.

Paris Saint-Germain

Few teams could afford to match Haaland’s astronomical salary demands. Paris Saint-Germain, though, are one of those who have the financial backing to lure the forward to the Parc des Princes. PSG do have one of the most potent attack lines in world football, one that was boosted by the addition of World Cup hero Ferran Torres over the summer.

And yet, it’s a position that does feel incomplete. With the likes of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Desire Doue, Maghnes Akliouche and Ousmane Dembele able to operate on the flanks in Luis Enrique’s favoured 4-3-3 setup, Haaland wouldn’t be short of teammates willing to provide the ammunition.

An issue will be whether Haaland views a move to Ligue 1 from the Premier League as a step down in his career. If he wanted to win further silverware by the bucketload, however, then a PSG switch would make sense.