Manchester City stance on Joao Cancelo to complicate Barcelona summer plans

Barcelona are keen to retain Manchester City loanee Joao Cancelo over the summer, but it looks like a tricky objective.

It was reported this week that Barcelona want Cancelo back on loan this summer, as they do not have the funds available to dedicate to his signing, as is the case for Joao Felix. However Sport‘s information says that Barcelona want to use what resources they have on a left-winger and a central midfielder, and spending on the right-back position is not in their summer plans.

The player declared on Thursday evening that he did want to continue in Catalonia next season, but Manchester City are only considering a sale for the 29-year-old at this point in time. Their intention is to get €40m for him this summer, and they are expecting offers from the Premier League and Saudi Arabia.

City want Cancelo to go to the highest bidder, and while Sporting Director Deco has also said that they want to continue with Cancelo, his mind could be changed by an offer in the summer – if that is the case, the Blaugrana stand little chance of success.

Their only route to keeping him, as the Catalan paper detail, is if agent Jorge Mendes persuades City to accept another loan with an option to buy next summer, but if there are other offers, then City will accept those first. Only if Cancelo is adamant about a return to Barcelona, and City see no other exit route for him, does Mendes look as if he can get a deal over the line.

Last summer, Arsenal reportedly came in for Cancelo, but the Portuguese was willing to wait for Barcelona. If the Blaugrana cannot count on Cancelo next season, then returning loanees Julian Araujo and Sergino Dest will be options (if he is not bought by PSV Eindhoven), as will youngster Hector Fort.