Sebastien Haller reportedly has no intention of leaving Ajax midway through the season, thereby handing Barcelona a major blow in pursuit.
According to a report by Catalan outlet El Nacional, Barcelona have been dealt a major blow in their pursuit of Sebastien Haller. The 27-year-old striker does not wish to leave Ajax midway through the season, which has put paid to Barcelona’s hopes of signing him, despite their willingness to table a €60 million bid.
Sebastien Haller joined Ajax from West Ham United in January 2021 and has since turned his career around brilliantly. After a solid second half of the 2020/21 season, the Ivory Coast international has stepped up in the opening months of the ongoing campaign. He has especially taken the UEFA Champions League by storm, becoming the first-ever player to score in his first six games in the competition.
The 27-year-old striker has 19 goals and six assists in 21 appearances across all competitions this season, with ten of those strikes coming in the Champions League. His exploits have unsurprisingly been noticed by the European bigwigs, with Barcelona among his prospective suitors.
The interest from Barcelona is understandable, considering how much they have been hurt this term by the absence of a reliable striker. While Sergio Aguero was supposed to be a short-term solution to that end, he has barely featured for the Blaugrana after initially sustaining a calf injury before being diagnosed with a heart condition.
With Aguero sidelined for the foreseeable future, Martin Braithwaite and Luuk de Jong remain the only recognised strikers at Xavi’s disposal. And while Braithwaite is best utilised as a backup option, de Jong has been a dud, with Barcelona eagerly waiting for his loan spell to end.
Hence, Barcelona must sign a striker in the January transfer window, especially with goals coming at a premium this season. To that end, Haller is a viable target for the Catalan giants, who are ready to offer €60 million to secure the services of the in-form striker.
However, the 27-year-old has no intention of leaving Ajax, which could prompt Barcelona to turn their attention back to Ferran Torres. Haller’s disinterest in joining Barcelona is the second such instance that the La Liga heavyweights have faced a blow in pursuit of an in-form striker, with Karim Adeyemi rejecting them in favour of Borussia Dortmund. It remains to be seen if Barcelona can find a solution to their goalscoring woes in January after the latest setback.
