Barcelona are reportedly closing in on a deal for Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo, but the matter is far from tied up.
On Monday it was reported that Barcelona were set to make an offer for Cancelo, while Relevo say that a deal is getting closer, as do Sport. They are in agreement that a deal for Cancelo would be a loan with an option to buy for €35m – around half of the option that was in his loan contract with Bayern Munich.
However MD claim that City are yet to be convinced by this formula, especially given Barcelona do not intent on paying a loan fee. Previous reports have claimed that Cancelo and Barcelona have agreed terms, but they say that Barcelona want either Cancelo to reduce his salary, or City to pay part of it.
🚨 The signing of João Cancelo could be announced in the coming days. Barcelona's idea is to pay part of the Portuguese's salary, but not pay a fee for the loan itself. The buy option will be around €35m. Wednesday and Thursday could be key days to complete the deal. @scapde_45 pic.twitter.com/xqm381GWVM
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) August 15, 2023
It is worth remembering that both Marcos Alonso and Inigo Martinez remain unregistered. Even if they agree on that formula with Manchester City, they will need either the sales of Clement Lenglet and Sergino Dest, or money from the sale of Barca Vision, in order to be able to register the Portuguese.
The German and Dutch firms Libero and Nipa have agreed to pay €120m in total to Barcelona, with €60m to arrive before the end of August – clearly it has not all been paid in full yet. Manager Xavi Hernandez has been the key factor pushing for a more experienced right-back, and Cancelo looks like the more affordable option, in spite of the above.
