On Monday, we covered claims from Spain that João Cancelo’s agent Jorge Mendes ‘goes all out’ to get him out of Manchester City. It was also said Barcelona want to sign him on a loan deal with an option to buy.
Sport state Barca sporting director Deco spoke to Mendes on the phone last Thursday and told him the club’s maximum budget for the right-back.
It’s claimed the La Liga side have been ‘intensifying contacts’ in the last few hours and have already made a ‘formal offer’ to both the 29-year-old and Manchester City.
The Catalan club’s idea is to take him on free loan and pay part of his salary [Sport say he earns €14m per year at the Etihad]. In addition to this, they want s non-mandatory purchase option of €35m.
Barca’s desire is to try to close the deal this week and the newspaper states Wednesday or Thursday could be ‘key to finish’ this operation. This would only be possible if they can agree a deal with the Etihad club.
The Portugal international is not included in Pep Guardiola’s plans. Sport state he’s made it clear that he only wants Barca and Manchester City now have a decision to make.
Should they fail to offload him, they have to pay big wages for a player who’s not wanted by the manager.
Therefore, all parties don’t want to delay the operation and this gives Barcelona optimism of getting the transfer over the line soon.
The optimism won’t be converted into reality unless Manchester City accept an offer for Cancelo.
