In the last couple of days, the members of the Spanish press have been working hard on stories linking Manchester City’s Erling Haaland first with Real Madrid, and then Barcelona.
These stories always come with a sense of confidence, arrogance even, from the two Spanish giants, fueled by the ever-present prerogative that every player in the world wants to play for either Real Madrid or Barcelona. In most cases, it has proven true. The histories of these two clubs and their significance in world football are impossible to ignore.
Steven Gerrard and Francesco Totti reportedly rejected the advances of Real Madrid to establish themselves as icons at Liverpool and AS Roma, respectively, and Marco Reus and Daniel Agger allegedly refused to join Barcelona at the peak of their powers.
But such examples are rare indeed. Try as they might, Liverpool couldn’t hold on to Luis Suarez or Philippe Coutinho when Barcelona came calling, just like Toni Kroos moved to Real against the wishes of Bayern Munich. It also happened with Robert Lewandowski, a long-shining star for the Bavarians before his move to Barcelona. Bayern are now worried about losing Alphonso Davies to Real, and Paris Saint-Germain have already lost the battle for Kylian Mbappe to Los Blancos.
On the other hand, under Pep Guardiola, Manchester City have proven they can be every bit as good as Real on the pitch, better even, and keep top players in their ranks through their best years. They’re certainly powerful enough to offer players more lucrative contract terms than either of the Spanish giants, and it’s not very realistic to expect the 115 charges they’re facing on that front to have any long-lasting effect on their status, even if proven true.
Real and Barcelona will always have their history and tradition to lord over City, but it’s questionable if that power can be used to lure Haaland, the player whose father spent three years with the current Premier League champions,…
Author : Veselin Trajkovic
Publish date : 2024-03-27 21:49:50
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.The post Can Real Madrid or Barcelona bully Manchester City into Haaland sale? first appeared on Soccer News.
Author : soccernews
Publish date : 2024-03-27 22:20:10
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.