FC Barcelona brought in a number of players in the recently closed summer transfer window, as they strengthened all the areas of their squad.
Two of the most high-profile signings in this window came from Manchester City. Ilkay Gundogan arrived at Barcelona after having completed his contract with City, while Cancelo joined on a loan from Manchester City as well.
Strained relations between City and Barcelona
Thus, it would seem that relations between Manchester City and the Blaugranes would be well and thriving. Especially since the Catalans did not have to pay any fee for Cancelo’s loan, and several executives previously associated with Barca are currently working at Manchester City.
However, Mundo Deportivo reports that this is not the case, as the Catalan giants are very upset with their Manchester City counterparts.
Relations between the two clubs were already strained since January, when, Barcelona believe, City did not allow Cancelo to join them even though the Catalans were not competing with City in the Champions League. City and Guardiola have denied any intention to keep Cancelo from joining Barcelona, but this feeling still prevails in Catalonia.
Barcelona’s grievances against City
Barcelona have got several other grievances against the Citizens this summer. For instance, they believe Manchester City intentionally kept Bernardo Silva from signing for Barcelona, even though Silva wanted to come to the Catalan capital.
The Catalan giants are also discontent with Citizens as they tried to woo their youngsters like Alejandro Balde Lamine Yamal, and Pau Cubarsi in the recent past. Furthermore, Barcelona’s higher-ups feel that Manchester City tried to linger on the operation for Cancelo even though Mendes had everything agreed with them previously.
Lastly, there is also a rumor doing the rounds that one of Manchester City’s conditions to allow Cancelo to join Barcelona was if Eric Garcia joined Girona. Girona is also owned by the group that owns Manchester City, so it makes some sense, but it needs to be reminded here that the Blaugranes needed an exit to incorporate Cancelo into the squad.