Barcelona will not have Joao Felix back on loan from Atletico Madrid, and increasingly it looks as if Joao Cancelo might not either. The Manchester City defender has refused to listen to offers from Saudi Arabia in order to hold out for a move back to Barcelona, but his value is being debated in Can Barca.
Reports on Tuesday claimed that Saudi side Al-Hilal had interest in Cancelo, something that The Athletic say they were unable to confirm, but neither did they deny. Meanwhile Sport report that there are doubts about Cancelo’s value at Barcelona, and they are internally debating whether they should bring him back.
Barcelona are preparing an offer worth 10 million euros to present to Juventus for Federico Chiesa. Juve want 15 million euros. @_Morik92_
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) August 20, 2024
The reasons are not just related to his performances. Aside from his flaws being exposed in Barcelona’s two biggest games of the season last year, Cancelo’s attitude whenever he was left out of the team was not appreciated by those at the club. Neither does the dressing room hold any particular affection for Cancelo, and one of his only real friendships was Felix, who will not be back.
New manager Hansi Flick has full confidence in Jules Kounde, and youngster Hector Fort could back him up. Certainly Barcelona don’t have much depth at full-back position, with only youngsters Gerard Martin and Alex Valle behind Alejandro Balde, but given their concerns about his ability to sit on the bench, it might not make much sense to look at Cancelo as depth.
