Barcelona are unlikely to make a move for wantaway Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo.
The Portuguese right-back is set to exit City again this summer in search of a new challenge, with relations between Cancelo and manager Pep Guardiola seemingly strained. Cancelo left in January of last year on loan to Bayern Munich, having lost his place in the team, but they did not elect to exercise their buy option.
Given the apparent lack of interest in paying a major fee for Cancelo, he seems like the perfect fit for Barcelona as a short-term solution – talented, experienced and used to a similar football that Xavi Hernandez is trying to implement.
However Sport say that the elevated cost of even a loan operation is likely to rule out a move to the Blaugrana as things stand. Including wages and a loan fee, the estimate that the total might reach around €20m for a single season.
Not only are some of the Blaugrana’s alternative options in the position likely to cost less for a permanent deal, they are struggling to register players as it is. An operation like that of Cancelo’s would hit salary limit hard given the short nature of his deal.