fire LaLiga striker desperate to join as Man Utd rejected

Manchester United are keen on signing in-form striker Karl Etta Eyong, but he would rather join Barcelona in what could prove to be a bargain deal, according to a report.

Etta Eyong is a 21-year-old centre-forward who spent time at Cadiz before joining Villarreal in August 2024. After thriving in Villarreal’s reserves, he went on to make seven first-team appearances and notched two goals.

Etta Eyong signed for Levante in the most recent transfer window, and his 2025-26 campaign has got off to a brilliant start.

So far, he has registered five goals and three assists in eight matches for Villarreal and Levante.

Only Kylian Mbappe and Julian Alvarez have outscored Etta Eyong in LaLiga, while he is ahead of other big names such as Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres and Raphinha.

It emerged on Thursday that Manchester United have joined Barcelona and Real Madrid in the race to capture Etta Eyong.

But according to the latest from Spanish newspaper Sport, Ruben Amorim’s side look set to be disappointed in this particular transfer hunt.

United are thought to be ‘pushing hard’ to sign the rising star, having ‘initiated contact’ with both his agent and Levante.

Etta Eyong, though, ‘is clear he wants to stay in Spain’ and his ‘priority is Barcelona‘.

The Cameroonian ‘knows there is interest from Barca and will wait for them to make a bid for him’.

Etta Eyong is delighted he has the opportunity to join Barca and compete for the No 9 role.

Barca could get him for half price, too. His release clause stands at €30million (£26m), though the report predicts Levante may sell if a bid worth just €15m (£13m) comes in.

Etta Eyong could therefore become ‘one of the bargains of the summer’, given his recent goalscoring exploits and massive potential.

Barca held talks for Etta Eyong last summer but could not get a move over the line. They are more confident about succeeding in summer 2026.

News of Etta Eyong preferring Barca will come as a serious blow to United, who had identified him as a possible replacement for Joshua Zirkzee.

The Dutchman wants more game time to ensure he gets a spot at the World Cup, and TEAMtalk revealed on Sunday that he is preparing to leave United in January amid interest from Everton and West Ham United.

Rangers had the opportunity to snare Etta Eyong for just €10m (£9m) in the summer but rejected it. They have now missed out on a profit and been left red-faced as he is set for bigger and better things.

It was claimed recently that Real Madrid are confident the one-cap international would rather join them over Barca. But if this latest report from Sport is to be believed, then Barca are edging closer to making Etta Eyong their latest striker.

READ MORE 👉 Next Kevin De Bruyne ‘dreams of Real Madrid’ despite Barcelona opening talks for signing – reports

Barcelona already have big plans for 2026

Three more players could join Barca alongside Etta Eyong next summer.

Reports on Friday unveiled Deco’s plan to give Hansi Flick an elite new centre-forward, plus a left-footed centre-half and a right-back.

Some of their prospective targets are currently playing at Manchester City and Sporting CP, and you can read more about the triple signing plan here.

Returning to Etta Eyong, Barca fans will be hoping he is not the next Vitor Roque.

The latter was tipped to become Lewandowski’s successor up front after joining from Athletico Paranaense in January 2024.

However, he failed to make the grade in Catalonia and scored just twice in 16 outings for the club.

Roque had a loan spell at Real Betis before returning to Brazil by joining Palmeiras permanently in February.

Etta Eyong will be confident about performing much better than Roque as he is already lighting up Spanish football.

Barca midfielder could leave; Bayern raid on United?

Meanwhile, Chelsea are rivalling Arsenal for a mega €110m double deal and it includes a Barca midfielder, as per reports.

Raphinha has been linked with a blockbuster move to Old Trafford, though TEAMtalk has outlined why the speculation is ambitious, to say the least.

Elsewhere, sources have revealed to TEAMtalk that Bayern Munich could engineer a move for a top-class United star.

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