Barcelona open door to Arsenal hijack with €30m transfer demand

Stuart Telford

• 18 Aug 2023 20:28 BST
• 3 min read

Barcelona remain favourites to sign Joao Cancelo from Manchester City, but their attempt to lowball the English champions could play into Arsenal's hands.

Cancelo no longer has a future at City, with Pep Guardiola moving to system that doesn't require attacking full-backs, and it is understood that Barcelona and Arsenal are both ready to give him a way out.

The player would like to follow his former Man City teammate Ilkay Gundogan to Camp Nou, and is reportedly ready to face his current employers demanding a move there, but the structure of his transfer could prove problematic.

READ: Barcelona get €10m Dembele BONUS to bring Cancelo transfer closer

"Barcelona want a buy option of around €30m on Cancelo," reports Diario Sport's David Bernabeu Reverter. "The club don't want it to be mandatory, although it will be if certain objectives are met such as the full-back playing around 70 per cent of the games."

Barca's budget

Barcelona are in no position to spend big this summer having been told by La Liga to reduced their debts by €200m ahead of the new season, and if lacking an obligation wasn't bad enough for City, Barca's clause would be well below market value.

City paid Juventus €65m for Cancelo in 2019 and he still has an ETV of €74.3m per FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm.

READ: EXCLUSIVE: Arsenal turn to wonderkid Walters as Timber replacement

Arsenal could swoop given the above. The Gunners have spent £200m on players this summer but it is understood they are willing to sell each of Gabriel, Kieran Tierney and Nuno Tavares in order to fund defensive reinforcements.

Although Mikel Arteta is set to put his trust in academy star Reuell Walters in light of Jurrien Timber's ACL injury, he could act as an understudy to Cancelo, if not play on the opposite flank given the Portuguese's versatility.

City sold Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal last summer, and Cancelo could well be the next play to make the same journey if Barca don't come back in with a better offer.