Haaland’s agent shuts down Barcelona talk and confirms Man City future
Man City got a massive boost this week when Erling Haaland’s agent, Rafaela Pimenta, firmly shut the door on a summer move to Barcelona. She made it clear the Norwegian striker is staying at the Etihad for the 2026/27 season and beyond.
Speaking to ESPN, Pimenta described City as the toughest club in world football to negotiate with, pointing to the total control they have over contract talks. Following the massive nine-and-a-half-year extension Haaland signed in January 2025, which keeps him at the club until 2034, Pimenta admitted: “They don’t really need anything, they have everything. So we don’t have any leverage.” That comment says a lot about the power City hold behind the scenes.
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Barcelona presidential candidate Víctor Font had previously claimed he was working on a “preferential option” to sign Haaland, but Pimenta dismissed that back in March, confirming there has been zero contact between the two parties. Even though the rumours in Spain won’t go away, the facts haven’t changed.
Haaland has racked up 160 goals in 195 appearances and currently has 36 goals and seven assists from 49 games this season, putting him right on track for another Golden Boot. While critics sometimes point to his reliance on high shot volumes or his occasional struggles against deep-lying defences, his numbers are still staggering. Those small gaps in his game hardly matter when a player is this consistent.
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Do Man City actually need this stability more than Haaland does?
In short, yes, and that’s the part the transfer circus usually misses. Man City are currently mid-rebuild after a lot of squad turnover, and they’ve spent the 2025/26 campaign integrating several new signings. Having Haaland there gives their attack a level of quality that no replacement could match.
Besides, Barcelona’s finances are nowhere near ready to fund a deal like this in the summer of 2026, and since there are no release clauses, Man City hold all the cards. Haaland himself told ESPN he sees exciting times ahead at the club, a sentiment that keeps this story firmly rooted in Manchester as we head into next season.
