The timing of Matteo Moretto’s intervention could hardly be sharper for Manchester City. With the English champions waiting on sanctions after being found guilty of 114 financial breaches, one of Spain’s best-connected transfer reporters has gone on the record saying Erling Haaland will leave the Etihad for La Liga.

Speaking on MARCA’s “Los 100 de MARCA by Orange” program, Moretto said he is now confident the 26-year-old Norwegian is thinking of Spain as his next step.

“I think his next step is going to be LaLiga. The club is yet to be seen, but he would really like to play in LaLiga. Haaland has that dream,” Moretto told the program.

“From what I hear, sooner or later he’ll end up in Spain.”

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Moretto added that the striker has typically chosen his career moves “step by step, looking at the sporting side”, a framing that places any decision on a Spanish move in Haaland’s own hands rather than City’s.

The 114 charges have changed the backdrop

The remarks have landed in a very different climate from previous Haaland speculation. The Premier League confirmed on 29 September 2026 that an independent commission had found Manchester City guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought in February 2023, covering alleged breaches of financial rules across a nine-season period.

Sanctions have not yet been handed down. City have signalled they will appeal, but the punishments openly discussed in English football, from a heavy points deduction to expulsion from the Premier League, would all force a rethink of the squad Enzo Maresca inherited over the summer.

Haaland, the player City could realistically least afford to keep in a demotion scenario, is also the one Spanish football has been waiting on for years.

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Barcelona have a five-year plan ready

Spain’s reporting is already moving beyond interest. Fichajes, as relayed by The Hard Tackle, says Barcelona have drawn up a five-year contract running through 2031, worth around €31.5 million per season, that they intend to put to the Norwegian when the moment is right.

The same reporting makes clear the proposal is “conditional rather than an active transfer operation”. Hansi Flick’s side are watching the outcome of City’s FFP case before any formal approach, and no agreement has been reached with Haaland or his representatives.

Real Madrid are also said to be monitoring the situation, with The Sun reporting at the start of October that both Spanish giants were already circling a potential firesale at the Etihad.

The contract complication

The problem for the two Spanish clubs is that Haaland is not close to being out of contract. He signed a nine-and-a-half-year deal that runs until 2034, the longest in Premier League history, and multiple reports have confirmed that the earlier release clauses from his previous contract were removed in that extension.

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Nor does relegation offer a shortcut. TNT Sports reported on 26 September that Haaland does not have an automatic release clause triggered by demotion from the Premier League, meaning any Spanish move will still require a negotiated transfer with City.

The next concrete date in the saga is the sanctions hearing in the 114-charge case, which has yet to be scheduled.

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