João Félix officially joins Barcelona

João Félix and João Cancelo will play for Barcelona this season. The Atlético player finally joins the club he previously said was his “dream”. The departure of Ansu Fati to Brighton left a spot in the Barça attack that the Portuguese forward will occupy. The player was absent from Atlético training on Friday as the clubs looked to finalise the deal.

João Cancelo

João Cancelo joins Barcelona from Manchester City and will fill the void Xavi felt he had at right-back. Xavi tried to lure him to the club in the last winter window when he fell out of favour under Pep Guardiola, but then he ended up going on loan to Bayern Munich, who did not exercise their right to buy and he returned to England at the end of the season.

Until now, Xavi had played with Ronald Araújo and Jules Koundé at right-back, two centre-backs converted to full-back. The other options that he used, although more sporadically, were Sergi Roberto and Alejandro Balde.

Cancelo has a contract with City until June 30, 2027, and has played for Benfica, Valencia, Juventus, and Bayern, in addition to being a Portugal international.