Barcelona Unable To Compete With Real Madrid Buru Haaland Or Mbappe

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernanez (left) (X/@FCBarcelona).

JAKARTA - Barcelona are unable to compete with Real Madrid chasing players like Erling Haaland or Kylian Mbappe.

The reason is, Barca is no longer a rich club that can spend big funds to bring in expensive players.

Madrid is the busiest club to hunt down Mbappe who is already free of transfer at the end of the season. Paris Saint-Germain club will lose their best asset because Mbappe's contract expires in June 2024.

PSG's efforts to maintain Mbappe are too late. The French national team captain refused to sign a contract extension. PSG was forced to release the player for free.

Mbappe was also the target of rich clubs. Not only Madrid, but also Liverpool are hunting for the player. However, Barca did not participate in approaching Mbappe.

Barca no longer has money to buy expensive players. Although Mbappe can be obtained free of charge because there is no transfer fee, the club that recruited him is certain to give him a very high salary.

Likewise Haaland, who is getting worse at Manchester City. Haaland's price is confirmed to be even higher after becoming a star in the Premier League. If someone is eyeing Haaland, his transfer is believed to break the player's purchase record.

Barca manager, Xavi Hernandez, said he still hopes the club will bring in new players in the transfer market this January. However, he had predicted Barca would not be able to bring in players like Mbappe or Haaland. "I have to be able to maximize the players I have right now. We don't think we will recruit players like them (Haaland and Mbappe)," said Xavi.

"Economically, we can't do it. So, I can only rely on the existing players. With them, we have to be able to win trophies," he said.

Barca actually had a role in buying players. In fact, the La Liga giant spent up to 100 million euros while bringing in Philippe Coutinho, Antoine Griezmann, and Ousmane Dembele between 2017-2019. However, they failed to contribute to the team.

Finally, Barca had tried to bring in Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez. At that time, Inter asked for a price of 100 million euros. However, Barca refused because they could not meet Inter's request.

Now, Barca are no longer buying expensive players. Financial problems make the Blaugrana only bring in players at affordable prices. Even though he doesn't have an expensive squad, Xavi is still burdened with high targets.

"We still have to win the title. We also have to play optimally because the target remains high," said Xavi.

Currently, Barca is in fourth place in La Liga 2023/2024 so they are still in the Champions League zone. With 38 points, Barca are already 10 points behind Madrid who lead the standings.