Barcelona identify €50 million-rated Bundesliga striker as Erling Haaland alternative | OneFootball

As has already been reported, Barcelona are looking at Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland as a possible target for the summer of 2025.

With the presidential elections on the horizon, club president Joan Laporta wants to make a marquee signing and with Robert Lewandowski in the final phase of his career, Haaland is seen as the ideal target.

The 24-year-old Norwegian’s alleged insistence on the insertion of a release clause in his new Manchester City contract that is being negotiated could leave the door open for clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid who have an interest.

Barcelona eye Benjamin Sesko as an alternative

However, Barcelona are unwilling to put all their eggs in the Haaland basket and have identified RB Leipzig centre-forward Benjamin Sesko as an alternative, reports Graeme Bailey via HITC.

Following in the footsteps of Haaland, Sesko burst onto the scenes at Red Bull Salzburg before venturing into the Bundesliga where he has taken his game to the next level.

Benjamin Sesko on Barcelona’s radars. (Photo by Maryam Majd/Getty Images)

The Slovenian forward has made a decent start to the new season, netting two goals and setting up a couple more from five games in all competitions.

Sesko, 21, has strong interest from clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea this past summer but rejected them in order to continue in Germany.

However, next year could be when he takes the next big step in his career, with Barcelona monitoring him while the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea could return too.

As per the report, Barça watched Sesko in action in RB Leipzig’s 2-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League – a match in which he scored.

Haaland is seen as the No. 1 target to replace Lewandowski but now, the 21-year-old Sesko, who is contracted to Leipzig until 2029, is also on the list.

With the club hopeful of returning to some sort of normalcy with regard to Financial Fair Play next year, a big signing could very well be on the cards.

*Player valuation in title obtained from transfermarkt.com on date of publication.