Squad planning for the next season is underway at FC Barcelona, as the club works on strengthening its weak areas. The right-back position is one of the obvious weaknesses in the squad, as there is no natural right-back available at Xavi’s disposal.
The club has identified some names that can significantly strengthen this position in the upcoming season, and one of the names to have recently been associated with the club is the Portuguese Joao Cancelo.
According to a report from SPORT, the player’s agent, Jorge Mendes, recently had a meeting with the club’s officials. The agenda of the meeting included discussions on a number of players that are associated with the super-agent, one of whom is Cancelo.
The report claims that the agent is working with FC Barcelona to get a one-year loan deal for Cancelo, which will also have a purchase option. Cancelo also is willing to join the Blaugranes but also has a number of other options on the table.
He is currently on loan at Bayern Munich, where he is not expected to continue after the conclusion of this season, and the player also does not want to rejoin Manchester City. He also has interest from some Italian clubs, but both the player and his agent have Barcelona as their favorite destination.
While Xavi himself prefers Juan Foyth of Villareal for the right-back position, the Villarreal are not willing to lower the asking price for Foyth from his release clause of €60 million. The Barcelona gaffer also likes Cancelo a lot, who has developed into one of the best attacking fullbacks in recent years, and also has acceptable defensive skills.
In the coming weeks and months, Jorge Mendes will be working to get the approval of Manchester City for the proposed loan to FC Barcelona, and also negotiate a reasonable wage for the footballer. He needs to ensure that the offered wage does not break the wage structure at the cash-strapped club, and keeps a way open for the club to permanently buy the player at the end of the season.
