Barcelona and the player himself appear to have believed that Manchester City would just continue loaning out Joao Cancelo until he was worth less than €20m and could be secured in an easy sale.
Otherwise, they weren’t really keen on spending a lot on the Portugal international and would look for an internal situation to replace him.
The Blaugrana continue to struggle with financial issues, and that means they have to make careful decisions when it comes to transfers, and it was long assumed Manchester City would be a relative rollover in that regard.
Jorge Mendes, his agent, has been informed, and the ball is now firmly in their court.
The other option Manchester City would offer is a loan with a mandatory purchase clause, yet that clause is likely to be that €30m again or very near to it.
