Erling Haaland's agent Rafaela Pimenta refused to deny the striker has an exit clause in his Manchester City contract - but admitted she would have to say "yes" to Barcelona president Joan Laporta.
Barca boss Xavi headed a club delegation flying out to Germany to hold a meeting with the striker a year ago as the Blaugrana considered the possibility of a move for Haaland. The Catalan club held a meeting with Mino Raiola, who had represented Haaland before he passed away last year, in December 2021.
The Norwegian striker, who subsequently joined City, fuelled speculation of a transfer to LaLiga in January last year as he confirmed that he would like to play in Spain during his career. Indeed, the battle for his signature between Madrid and Barca was described as a war between the clubs.
Xavi refused to rule out the possibility of a future move for Haaland in 2022, saying: "There is no footballer who has said no to Barca since I have come here." When asked about meeting the striker, he responded: "I cannot give details. The only thing I can say about Haaland is that we are working for Barca for the present and future."
Haaland is now represented by Pimenta, who was prominent in Raiola's agency. She opened up about the forward in an interview with Diario AS, and her comments could prompt fears at Man City regarding the striker's long-term future.
Pimienta, who is also a lawyer, repeatedly refused to answer a question on whether the striker had a release clause in his City contract, which comes into play in 2024. Haaland had a similar clause in his Dortmund contract, which enabled him to leave for a bargain €75million.
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"It is difficult to answer this," Pimienta explained. She said that "misunderstandings" were too easy, "so I prefer not to say anything." When pressed on the issue, she refused to clarify other than adding that she did not want to provide any further information.
"Today he is happy at City," she responded when asked if Haaland would end up playing in Spain. "Tomorrow, we will have to think about it. It is not positive for a footballer to play one season thinking about the next."
She added: "This is like you start thinking about your next woman the day you get married! Today, Haaland is married. But I need to provide the key to his exit should he wish to do so."
When asked if Haaland could go to Real Madrid, she dismissed the question: "I cannot talk about this, I am a lawyer." But she was prepared to give a deeper answer when asked about her own working relationship with Barcelona.
"I have a strong relationship with (Barca president, Joan) Laporta," she revealed. "I always say that Laporta can't ask me for anything in football, he's not fair, because he knows I'm going to say 'yes!'"
Opening up on what Haaland's market value is currently, Pimienta explained: "For me, Haaland is worth €1,000million (€1bn). Maybe nobody is going to pay that, but it is the potential that he has when he arrives at a club.
"With him come fans, goals, results, professionalism, digital content, notoriety, sponsors... if you put all this together, his value is an aggregate of many things. But the price of a footballer is actually set by a club.
"I know that nobody is going to pay €700m for a player, but I am very clear that the value that Erling adds when he arrives at a club is immense, at least €1,000m."
Haaland has bagged a scarcely-believable 31 goals in 27 appearances for City so far this season having netted 86 goals in 89 outings at Borussia Dortmund.
