Barcelona’s new teenage superstar Munir El Haddadi is set to snub Arsenal and Chelsea and stay at Camp Nou. El Haddadi, who is yet to sign a contract with the senior team, has a release clause of £9.4m that caused some interest amongst a host of clubs who are being linked with the striker. Rumours had emerged last month that Arsene Wenger has made El Haddadi a winter transfer target. Other London club Chelsea are also keeping their tabs on the rising star from Barcelona.
The striker’s former agent Antonio Gabaldon revealed, “Munir is happy at Barcelona. He wants to stay. There will be no problem to negotiate.”
The 19-year old has been in brilliant form since being introduced into the 1st team against Elche and has displaced bigger names from the 1st team squad. He has been already touted as the next great find for Barcelona after Lionel Messi. He faces direct competition from the likes of Pedro, Iniesta, Rafinha and Neymar. The return of Luis Suarez after his suspension could demote the youngster to the bench. This led to rumours that El Haddadi could move if the right opportunity arrived.
Barcelona are yet to offer him a new contract and could do it soon because they will be helpless if his release clause is met in January in which case he’ll be free to decide if he wants to stay or move. If he stays then it’s likely that he’ll be loaned out as Barcelona cannot promise him regular 1st team football in the next few months. The same happened to Gerard Deulofeu, who was loaned out to Sevilla this summer despite impressing at Everton last season. This just goes to show how much competition exists in the Barcelona squad as there is no shortage of quality.
El Haddadi played for 30 mins against PSG in Barcelona’s 2nd Champions League game but could not help the team to avoid their 1st defeat this season under their new manager Luis Enrique. The Spanish international put in a good performance and almost scored with a venomous shot.
Other clubs to be linked with El Haddadi are German giants Bayern and Ligue 1 holders PSG.