Barcelona have given the plan a code name. “Project Viking,” the Catalan club’s internal pursuit of Erling Haaland, has been given the go-ahead at boardroom level, according to transfer insider Indykaila, with a £130m bid lined up for next summer.

The news did not land in a vacuum. On 30 September an independent Premier League commission found Manchester City guilty of 114 of 115 financial fair play charges and detailed how the club had arranged sham commercial deals to inflate revenues and cut costs by around £900m across the nine years from 2009 to 2018. Within hours, Indykaila reported, City’s board was summoned to an emergency meeting the following morning.

City lodged a comprehensive appeal at 7pm on Thursday, 1 October, with the club’s formal statement declaring that the ruling “contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe.”

City dig in, rivals circle

Chief executive Ferran Soriano rejected the central finding on behalf of the club.

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“The whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation, that the owners’ personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi. This is just not true,” he said.

An appeal hearing is expected by the middle or end of January 2027, with a final outcome in the early part of that year. That timetable, more than the verdict itself, has emboldened Haaland’s suitors. Premier League rivals privately expect no final resolution this season, and uncertainty of that length tends to loosen even the tightest grip on a star asset.

The pursuit, and the limits of the plan

Barcelona’s offer is being built around a five-year contract through 2031, relayed by The Hard Tackle from Spanish reporting, with an annual salary of around €31.5m, matching what the Norwegian earns at the Etihad. Hansi Flick, now the highest win-rate coach in Barcelona’s history, is understood to see Haaland as the ideal focal point for his attack and as the long-term successor to Robert Lewandowski.

Real Madrid are the other half of the picture. Fabrizio Romano has reported that both Spanish giants are positioning for the Norwegian, and the pundit Pat Nevin had a hunch about where this was heading.

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“I could see him in an all-white shirt, if I’m honest with you. Real Madrid,” Nevin said.

Romano himself was almost as direct.

“I would not be surprised one day to see Erling Haaland playing in La Liga,” he said.

Haaland has not publicly moved. Speaking to Romano after the verdict, he struck a loyal tone.

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“I care a lot about the UK, I care a lot about Manchester City.”

“We have to stick together, stay with each other, stay positive.”

There is also a hard contractual wall. Spanish outlet Sport reported last month that Haaland’s deal, extended in January 2025 and running through 2034, contains no release clause tied to relegation or any other circumstance. Any transfer would require Manchester City to accept the terms, and the club has not indicated it will. For now, Barcelona’s £130m remains a plan, not an offer on the table, with the appeal verdict due in early 2027 set to decide whether that plan ever becomes one.

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