Barcelona have acknowledged publicly that they are on the hunt for a defender, and it appears they have settled on their target. Despite initial reports that the club internally were not aligned on a move for Joao Cancelo, the Blaugrana appear to be trying to bring the Portuguese full-back in for a second spell.
Cancelo is keen to leave Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia after 18 months, and has been in talks over a loan move. Barcelona and Juventus had enquired about Cancelo, but it was Inter who had moved ahead with negotiations for Cancelo. Al-Hilal are requiring 50% of his €15m per annum salary to be covered, which amounts to €3.75m for the second half of the season. Reports from the Catalan capital had declared that internally Barcelona were split on making a bid for the 31-year-old.
Barcelona submit loan offer for Cancelo
According to Fabrizio Romano, Barcelona have now made a bid for Cancelo though. Their offer only covers a ‘small part’ of his salary, but talks are set to coninue. Al-Hilal do have a deal agreed with Inter for Cancelo to return to Serie A, but the ex-Manchester City man is keen to exhaust any options he has to head back to Camp Nou.
🚨🔵🔴 EXCLUSIVE: Barcelona send initial official bid to Al Hilal for João Cancelo.
Loan proposal with small part of salary covered, negotiations ongoing.
❗️ Inter have deal verbally agreed with Al Hilal for Cancelo since last week… but player’s waiting for Barça. pic.twitter.com/T20fWPd1S8
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 5, 2026
Hansi Flick doubts over Cancelo
Cancelo, who was vocal about his affection for Barcelona after leaving the club two summers ago, has reportedly communicated to the club that he would very much be keen on a reunion this winter. One man who may stand in the way of the deal is Hani Flick though. The German coach is not convinced by the idea of signing Cancelo, and would prefer the club to invest in a central defender.
🚨 BREAKING: FC Barcelona are on the verge of signing João Cancelo. [@FabrizioRomano] 🇵🇹✅ pic.twitter.com/YgftkDEWHS
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) January 5, 2026
Capable of playing on both flanks, whether it be at full-back or further forward, Cancelo is blessed with plenty of technical ability, and his versatility would be valuable. That said, if Flick were to use him at full-back, then he would be running the risk of weakening the side defensively, something Xavi Hernandez found out the hard way as Barcelona fell to defeat against Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid in quick succession, all but ending their season.
Afcon what is happening