Barcelona have areas in the field that need reinforcements and one area that is currently lacking options is the right-back position. The left-back feels sorted with Alejandro Balde as the starter and one of Alex Valle or Gerard Martin as his backup.
The right-back currently has two candidates in the squad. Jules Kounde is likely to start in that position although he is predominantly a centre-back by trade. His backup Hector Fort hasn’t received many minutes under Hansi Flick, with the German preferring Alex Valle on the right during pre-season.
Barcelona had Joao Cancelo from Manchester City on loan last season but have not made the transfer permanent. As per reliable Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Saudi club Al-Hilal have submitted a formal bid to sign the 30-year-old.
The journalist has confirmed that the Spanish club is still interested in signing Cancelo this summer but are yet to submit an offer as they want another loan deal while Man City are looking to offload him permanently.
If Al-Hilal were to sign Cancelo this summer, they would let Saud Abdulhamid join AS Roma. Barcelona now need to make a decision on the Portuguese international and see if they can sign him this summer.
The 30-year-old is a better attacker than he is a defender and is not reliable in big games. What Cancelo has is the ability to unpick a low block at will with his creative ability which could come in handy for Barcelona in league games.
The ideal situation for Barcelona would be to get him on another loan deal to the club for this season. Spending money on a 30-year-old considering the situation we are in might be ill-advised. Let’s wait and see if the club make a late push to sign the player this summer.
