BARCELONA
João Cancelo closer to Barcelona move
Barça are hopeful of the Portuguese wing-back becoming the club’s next summer signing.
João Cancelo will be Barcelona’s next signing if everything goes to plan. Manchester City, Barcelona and the right-wing-back are close to finding an agreement for a loan deal with an option to buy.
Cancelo’s insistence on playing for Barcelona has been key in City’s decision to agree to let him leave for the LaLiga club, and the Portugal international will solve the right-back issue for Xavi.
Barcelona’s options
Barcelona had looked into the right-back options of Iván Fresneda (Valladolid), Pablo Maffeo (Mallorca), and World Cup winner Juan Foyth (Villarreal), but failed to advance with any of the Spain-based defenders.
Loan spell at Bayern
Cancelo was wanted by Barcelona in January, although he ended up leaving to join Bayern Munich on loan. This situation led to an disagreement between Xavi and Pep Guardiola. The Barça coach accused Guardiola of getting in the way of the signing in January. “They told us they didn’t want the player to come to Barcelona,” he said.
Guardiola replied by saying: “Xavi has been very badly informed. He is far from the reality. The reality was that we decided that he had to leave and we didn’t care where he went. I won’t say he (Xavi) was misled, but he was misinformed.”
Cancelo has a contract with City until 2027 and a valuation of €50million ($55m), hence the idea of a transfer with an option to buy.