Joan Laporta meets superagent in Italy, several players linked to Barcelona

Italian journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Barcelona president Joan Laporta met up with superagent Mino Raiola in Torino on Monday.

Laporta is in Italy for Pedri’s Golden Boy award ceremony. And, it seems like the Barça supremo decided to make use of the trip to hold talks with Raiola at a famous hotel.

This comes as an interesting development, considering that Raiola represents some of the biggest names in football. For starters, Borussia Dortmund superstar Erling Haaland, who is hugely admired by Laporta is a client of the controversial agent.

The 54-year-old had recently named Barcelona as one of the clubs that could sign Haaland from the German giants, along with three other teams in Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

Apart from Haaland, Raiola also represents Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba. The Frenchman is in the final seven months of his contract with the Premier League giants and looks set to depart on a free transfer at the end of the season.

Barcelona have been linked with a move for the former Juventus star and his name could potentially have come up in discussions between Raiola and Laporta.

Another player that Raiola represents and has been on the radars of the Blaugrana is Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. While he only recently made a move to Paris Saint-Germain, the ex-AC Milan star is believed to be unsettled in France as he has had to share game-time with Keylor Navas.

And, with Barça considering parting ways with Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Donnarumma has been identified as one of the potential replacements for the German shot-stopper.

Matthijs de Ligt, another client of Raiola, is also a prospective target for Barcelona with the Catalans looking for a long-term replacement for veteran defender Gerard Pique.

Raiola had already met with Laporta earlier this year, a month after the latter was elected as the club president in order to discuss Haaland. More names, apart from the Norwegian’s, may very well have been discussed in their latest meeting on Monday.