At the end of the season, Joao Cancelo will depart Barcelona in order to return to Manchester City, his parent club. However, both he and the Catalan giants want to bring him back for the 2024-25 campaign at least, although doing so will be much easier said than done.
Multiple factors are making it difficult for Barcelona in their efforts to re-sign Cancelo. Firstly, Man City want a permanent sale in the summer, but their ongoing financial woes are making this difficult. At this stage, another loan deal is their preferred method, but it appears unlikely that the Premier League giants would be open to this, despite the Portuguese’s first choice being in Catalonia.
Furthermore, interest in Cancelo’s services is growing. Saudi Arabia are aware, while it’s also reported by Relevo that Bayern Munich want to re-sign the 29-year-old, whom they themselves had on loan last season. They believe that he can solve their issues at right-back, which has been a glaring problem for Thomas Tuchel’s side this season.
As a result of this rising interest in Cancelo, Man City are preparing to hold an “auction” this summer, as they aim to secure as much as possible for his services. The report suggests that €40-50m would be enough to appease them, whereas Barcelona can only afford to offer up to €30m. This could mean that they miss out on achieving one of their main summer’s objectives, which would be a big blow.