Revealed: The sacrifice that Joao Cancelo made to join Barcelona from Manchester City last summer

It was surprising, to say the least, that Barcelona were able to pull off deals for Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo in the final stages of last summer’s transfer window. The Portuguese duo signed on loan deals from Atletico Madrid and Manchester City respectively, and as it turned out, both players made sacrifices to join the Catalan giants.

Felix signed a new contract with Atleti before his arrival, and this reduced his salary, allowing Barcelona to fit him into their wage bill. Cancelo also forewent wages to join, with MD reporting that he gave up €2m of his Manchester City salary to be able to make the move to Barcelona last summer – that’s despite the fact that there are no guarantees that he could stay on a permanent basis.

🚨 João Cancelo gave up €2m of his Manchester City salary to be able to fit in at Barcelona. Despite being at Barça on loan, he's one of the leaders in the dressing room and he's also one of the players who shows the most commitment on a day-to-day basis. @ffpolo pic.twitter.com/8REl0Yitkr

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) April 6, 2024

Barcelona do want to re-sign Cancelo again this summer, although a permanent move is off the table – for now – because of their financial woes. They are hoping to agree a new loan deal with Man City, although that looks difficult as the Premier League giants want to sell him, and there is sufficient interest from other clubs.