Barcelona hand ultimatum to Munir El Haddadi after Sevilla bid
Munir El Haddadi’s contractual situation means that Barcelona want him to commit to a decision on his future this summer.
The 22-year-old has impressed so far in the US pre-season tour as he competes with Paco Alcacer for the back-up striker spot. He made good use of his loan spell with Deportivo Alaves last season because he scored 14 goals as well as providing seven assists. This brought him back into the fold for the senior squad, but he only has one year left on his contract.
According to Sport, Barcelona want Munir to either sign a new contract or leave to join another club over the next few weeks, with Sevilla being the main suitor currently, rather than seeing out the one year left on his contract. Leaving as a free agent next summer doesn’t benefit the Catalans at all, so a decision on his future needs to be made in the immediate future.
Barcelona are stacked in terms of options for forward areas. Luis Suarez, Munir and Alcacer are the senior options for the striker role while Abel Ruiz is coming through the youth ranks. Malcom, Ousmane Dembele, Rafinha, Denis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho can also play as art of the front three. Aleix Vidal and Jose Arnaiz are both at the club, but they have been linked with moves away.
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The plethora of attacking options available provides Ernesto Valverde with flexibility in terms of the system he utilises as well as personnel. Therefore, Barca can afford to hand Munir this ultimatum and potentially force him out of the club.
Suarez only has a few years left at Barcelona because he is starting to decline, so there is a long-term opportunity to replace him. It remains to be seen whether Barcelona would trust Munir to fill that major role, though. He has to consider whether he will ever be more than a back-up at Barcelona because a first-team role at Sevilla would see him playing in Europe as well as obviously getting a lot more playing time which would aid his development.
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Alcacer was the back-up striker last season; he performed admirably in that role with seven goals and four assists in 992 minutes. However, Munir has the advantage of being two years younger while having a similar level of ability. It’s unclear what Munir’s contract demands would be, although the preference to keep him over Alcacer suggests that they will be lower than what the 24-year-old is on. The decision is down to him, though, and it’s likely to be a tough one.