Barcelona’s Joao Cancelo transfer NIGHTMARE
Tom Hancock
- 30 Aug 2023 16:14 BST
- 3 min read
Barcelona’s move for Joao Cancelo could be complicated by the club’s continued financial difficulties.
The Portugal defender is set to join the La Liga champions on loan from Manchester City, with Barca having the option to sign him on a permanent basis eventually.
However, as thing stand, it doesn’t look like Xavi’s side will be able to register Cancelo, 29 – who spent the second half of last season out on loan at Bayern Munich.
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According to The Athletic’s Barcelona correspondent, Pol Ballus, Barcelona currently cannot register their full squad – and that’s before Cancelo’s switch to Catalonia has even become official.
The club need to free up some funds in order to satisfy La Liga’s financial regulations – which could well mean selling more players.
So far this summer, Barca have generated fees for Alex Collado, Nico Gonzales, Franck Kessie and Ousmane Dembele – with the latter bringing in by far the biggest amount by completing a €50m move to PSG.
Prodigious youngster Ansu Fati has been touted as another potential departure, with Chelsea and Tottenham both said to be keen on the Spain international.
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Barca’s next new face?
However, the report from The Athletic adds that the Barcelona hierarchy expect to get the deal for Cancelo over the line in any case.
The former Juventus, Valencia, Benfica and Inter Milan man could become Barca’s fourth signing of the current transfer window.
Ilkay Gundogan and Inigo Martinez joined the Blaugrana as free agents after leaving Manchester City and Athletic Bilbao respectively, with Oriol Romeu arriving from Girona for €3.4m.
It’s not been an entirely convincing start to the 2023/24 La Liga campaign for Barcelona – who were held on the opening day by Getafe, before beating Cadiz 2-0 and coming out on the right side of a 4-3 thriller away to Villarreal last time out.
