Three days ago, Sport reported Manchester City had held talks with Arsenal and unnamed Saudi Arabian clubs for João Cancelo before he moved to Barcelona on loan last summer.
It was also stated the La Liga side are keen on retaining the right-back, who also has firm interest from Al-Hilal.
Today’s Sport brings Arsenal back into the fold when discussing the Manchester City man’s future.
The Portugal international’s desire is to continue at the Camp Nou and that would only be possible if the Catalan club were to reach a new agreement with the Citizens.
This has been made difficult since Pep Guardiola’s side are looking for a sale and there are other clubs, including Arsenal, interested in the defender.
Barca can only retain Cancelo through another loan deal with a purchase option of €25m. Meanwhile, Manchester City may have significant offers to earn close to double that figure from his sale.
This is when Arsenal get a mention and it’s said they are ‘still interested’ in Cancelo. In addition to Mikel Arteta’s side, Middle East clubs could have already started bidding for his signature.
Cancelo’s relationship with Pep Guardiola is broken and he will ‘definitely leave’ Manchester City again in the summer.
Sport suggest he can block offers from other interested parties like Arsenal in order to force a move to Barcelona.
With a summer transfer on cards, it remains to be seen whether Arteta and Arsenal can convince Cancelo to arrive at the Emirates.
If they can, they’ll be ruining Barcelona’s transfer plans.
