Arsenal and Real Madrid have opened a line to Erling Haaland’s representatives over a potential move, according to Football Insider as picked up by TeamTalk. It is the first concrete step by any of the clubs who see Manchester City’s legal problems as an opening.
City were found guilty of 114 of 115 charges brought by the Premier League on 25 September. No sanction has yet been set, but the range runs from points deductions to relegation, and the club are expected to appeal.
Any suitor faces the same problem written into Haaland’s own paperwork. When he signed his nine-and-a-half-year extension in January 2025, no relegation clause and no automatic release trigger were inserted, a point City sources have reiterated in the days since the verdict while insisting the club are not even entertaining a relegation scenario.
Contact already made in London and Madrid
Arsenal’s interest is not new, but this is the first time it has been reported as active. The Football Insider claim places them alongside Real Madrid as the only two clubs to have opened a channel with the striker’s camp.
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For Arsenal, the pull is geography and gap. The club failed to bring in a top-tier centre-forward last summer, and Haaland would slot straight into the point of a squad that has been searching for a settled No. 9.
A Bernabéu fit
Real Madrid have long been floated as the natural landing spot for a striker of Haaland’s profile: a consistent No. 9 to anchor the front line, and a name that fits the club’s Galáctico tradition without any strain.
Spanish outlet Football España, citing Transfermarkt, describes both Madrid and Barcelona as monitoring rather than pursuing, with no formal approach registered on either side.
Barcelona plot an attack built around him
Barcelona sit at the top of a five-club shortlist compiled by Football Transfers, whose analysts rank them ahead of Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea on tactical fit. The picture is straightforward: Haaland leading the line as a permanent No. 9, with Lamine Yamal and Raphinha operating either side of him.
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Bayern’s long play for Kane’s succession
Bayern Munich are the coldest of the four. Harry Kane, 33, is not going anywhere yet, but the club has begun to think about who follows him, and Haaland is on that list.
Haaland is under contract until 2034, and the earliest transfer window in which any of these clubs could realistically move is January 2027.
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