Two key players for FC Barcelona in the 2023-24 season, Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo, have seen their UEFA EURO 2024 campaigns come to an end, facing a challenging summer ahead. Both players wish to remain at Barcelona, but their future at the Catalan club remains highly uncertain at this point.
Both Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo were focusing on their international duties till a few days ago. While Joao Cancelo played an important role in the Portuguese team, Felix had only minimal prominence in this competition and was also the player whose missed penalty led to Portugal’s elimination from the competition.
Thus, as SPORT has noted, the Portuguese duo will be going into their holidays with a lot of concern about their future, even though Barcelona have already communicated their desire to retain them for another year with new loans.
But this communication would have done little to assuage their fears, as the Catalans have also clarified to them that negotiations with Manchester City and Atletico Madrid are not going to be easy, and these operations can go till the last days of the summer transfer window.
Other clubs have also shown an interest in the two players, with Atletico Madrid having received an offer from Benfica while Manchester City having received offers from Saudi Arabia, which puts these owner clubs in a position of strength.
However, both the players have frozen their negotiations with these sides for now, as they are open only to playing for FC Barcelona next season. This leaves little room for Atletico Madrid or Manchester City to maneuver in the market.
As the days go past and hopes of remaining at Barcelona dwindle, this Portuguese duo might be tempted to accept one of the other offers coming for them. But both of them want to stay at Barcelona next season and will have to ensure they do not make any missteps till the end of the window to achieve this dream.
