Manchester City’s João Cancelo is back on Barcelona’s agenda, according to today’s Mundo Deportivo.
Xavi Hernández has asked president Joan Laporta to sign a new right-back. The 29-year-old and Real Valladolid’s Iván Fresneda are included in the target list. The latter hasn’t convinced everyone at the Camp Nou and it would cost them €20m to sign him.
Barca are evaluating bringing in an experienced player and this is where the Manchester City defender comes back into the picture.
Mundo say the La Liga side’s idea would be to take him on a free loan and pay his full wages. Xavi has always liked the Portugal international and the latter’s agent, Jorge Mendes, is also in favour of this operation. The Citizens, however, aren’t.
Cancelo spent the second half of last season on loan at Bayern Munich. Barca tried to sign him in January and Xavi had earlier stated Pep Guardiola stopped the transfer. However, the Manchester City manager has dismissed this suggestion.
Laporta shares a good relationship with both Guardiola and Manchester City director Txiki Begiristain. AS say the Barca president would ‘play a key role’ in carrying out a potential deal.
Sources close to the Camp Nou have told AS that there’s a ‘certain thaw and that the talks are advancing’. They add Mendes could ‘act as a transmission belt’ between Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano and Barca sporting director Mateu Alemany.
The fullback’s current market value is €50m but the newspaper states Barca can only sign him on loan.
To sum it up, Laporta and Mendes will have to work hard to convince Manchester City to let go of Cancelo on a loan deal.
