Barcelona advisor confirms interest in striker; deal being prepped

Xavi remains keen to sign a top quality number nine despite signing Aubameyang in January

It is no secret that Barcelona are big admirers of Erling Haaland, and Enric Masip has confirmed that the club are working on trying to sign him in the summer. The Norwegian is expected to leave Borussia Dortmund at the end of the current campaign with a number of top clubs across Europe keen to land his signature.

The Catalan club's president, Joan Laporta, had tried to play down their interest in signing Haaland. However, his close advisor has confirmed that work is going on behind the scenes. Barcelona have been in contact with Haaland's agent, Mino Raiola, who has suggested that the La Liga club remains an option for his client.

"It's something the club are working on, with the difficulty that comes with that," Masip said, as quoted by Sport. "It's difficult, but we're Barça and we will have a chance. The club is trying and the specialists in their area, those in charge of football planning, already know what has to be done."

Barcelona are mired in financial difficulty, and are likely to struggle to compete with the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid, who are also interested. The Catalan capital club did sign Ferran Torres for £55 million in January, and are expected to spend most of their summer budget on acquiring Haaland.

Erling Haaland — Erling Braut Haaland celebrates after scoring the opening goal for Borussia Dortmund against Schalke Martin Meissner/POOL

Xavi is keen to bring in a top quality number nine, and the Norway marksman remains top of his wishlist. The club are even ready to look for free agent deals to bolster other areas of the club with AC Milan's Franck Kessie, Chelsea's Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta among their targets.

Laporta, however, insisted that there are no negotiations underway for the striker at the moment. He confirmed that while Barcelona will strengthen the squad, they are currently monitoring a number of targets without yet making any concrete offers.

"We're working on a lot of players that could improve the squad next season in agreement with the coach [Xavi Hernandez] and the directors of football [Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff]. We're planning for next season but there have been no negotiations -- no meeting, negotiations, nothing," Laporta said.