Barcelona would win the race for Erling Haaland if Manchester City were relegated as fallout from their financial charges, according to Paul Scholes.

Pressed on where the striker would land if City dropped out of the Premier League as part of any sanction, the former Manchester United midfielder split the two Spanish giants in a single breath.

“Barcelona. But he looks like a Real Madrid lad. I can just see him in a Real Madrid kit,” Scholes said on the podcast The Good, The Bad & The Football, as reported by Football365.

Maresca’s seven-win start gives way to a crash

City’s season has unravelled quickly. Three straight Premier League defeats, against Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Brighton, have knocked Enzo Maresca’s side from six points clear at the top to third.

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The Italian replaced Pep Guardiola in the summer and opened with seven consecutive wins before the collapse. City resume at Arsenal on 21 November after the international break.

Haaland keeps scoring, contract runs to 2034

None of the turbulence has reached the striker. Haaland has nine Premier League goals in ten appearances this season and tops the division’s scoring charts. His contract at the Etihad runs until summer 2034.

114 of 115 charges upheld, appeal awaits

An independent commission ruled in September that City had been found guilty on 114 of the 115 charges for alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules, with the club lodging an appeal it says rests on documentary evidence.

Reports put the most likely sanction, should the appeal fail, at a single-season points deduction of 40 to 50 points, alongside an extended transfer ban and a heavy fine. The appeal outcome is expected in February or March.

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