Barcelona have been quite active in the transfer market in the past couple of days. Most of it has been to do with departures but there are certain targets that the club have in terms of arrivals for the summer.
Joao Cancelo spent last season on loan at the club from Manchester City but has returned to his parent club where he isn’t a part of the first-team plans. The 30-year-old Portuguese left-back was keen to return to Barcelona.
Now, as per SPORT, Joao Cancelo is considering accepting an offer from Saudi club Al-Hilal who have already reached an agreement with Manchester City for around €35m. Jorge Jesus’ side are now trying to convince the 30-year-old with a lucrative €70m salary package for three years.
Transfermarkt values the player at around €25m and Man City would have had no hesitation in accepting Al-Hilal’s offer. Barcelona on the other hand were trying to convince the Premier League champions to send him on another loan deal.
The friction between Barcelona and the Portuguese right-back started when the Catalan club asked him to lower his salary to return to the club. This did not sit well with the 30-year-old who was aware of what some others at the club were earning.
Al-Hilal have taken advantage of the situation and swooped in with an offer and the player is now close to accepting their offer. Barcelona meanwhile have approached Marc Pubill of Almeria over a move this summer.
It now increasingly looks like the two Joaos who spent last season on loan at Barcelona won’t be coming back. Felix has joined Chelsea and Cancelo looks further away from the Catalan club. This might actually be a blessing in disguise for Hansi Flick & co.
Felix did not do enough for us to sign him this summer. Cancelo would have been a decent addition but on another loan deal. Spending cash to bring in a 30-year-old at such a cash-strapped time would have been ill-advised. Thus, Barcelona can move on without worrying much about Cancelo.
