Club not surprised by Manchester City stance – Know deal will not be easy

Barcelona are continuing with their efforts to sign Joao Cancelo from Manchester City this summer and were not surprised that the Premier League champions closed the door to another loan deal.

That’s according to Sport, who explain that Cancelo’s potential future at Barcelona is ‘complicated’, but the Catalans are continuing to work on it.

Manchester City have already informed Barcelona that they are not interested in extending the defender’s loan deal and will only negotiate a permanent exit, something which has been backed by reports in England.

Those reports have made it clear that Manchester City intend to take a tough stance when it comes to Cancelo, intending to get rid of him permanently. They are even dealing with offers from Saudi Arabia, although Cancelo hasn’t given his approval to them as yet.

Barcelona have always been clear, telling Manchester City through the player’s agent, Jorge Mendes, that they wanted another loan deal with the same conditions as last season, albeit including a purchase option.

Manchester City closed that off immediately and will not move from their determination to secure a permanent exit for the defender. All signs are not that they will move from that.

Barcelona were not surprised by that according to Sport, and instead they are hoping that Cancelo can force matters to favour them.

That’s essentially what happened last summer when Manchester City initially refused to let him go but gave in late in the window when the player remained resolute and determined to move to Barcelona.

The Catalans are hoping for a repeat of that and firmly believe that there is a deal there to be done once again before the end of August.

Sporting director Deco even met with Jorge Mendes a few days ago to talk about Cancelo and Joao Félix and try to work something out, although City will not make it easy.