Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo has agreed personal terms with Barcelona over a potential move to the Camp Nou this summer, it has been reported, with the two clubs set to discuss a fee for the defender.
The Catalan giants are on the hunt for a new fullback this summer amid reports that they will be terminating the contract of current option Sergino Dest. Not at the club last season, it was often Jules Kounde or Ronald Araujo that found themselves playing at right-back, but both prefer to be used centrally.
“With the departure of [Ousmane] Dembele, we need a pure right-back now”, Xavi explained after the 1-0 pre-season win over AC Milan.
Top of their priorities list is Cancelo, who spent the last part of last season out on loan at Bayern Munich after falling out with Pep Guardiola in the New Year.
Now back at the Etihad, he has been a substitute in both of the pre-season games to date, and doesn’t seem to have a long term future in Manchester.
Enter, Barcelona. As per Fabrizio Romano, Cancelo is the ‘priority’ for the remainder of Barcelona’s transfer window, and they are ready to use part of the funds received from any sale of Dembele to PSG in order to try and put together a package to tempt Manchester City into letting the Portuguese defender leave, either on loan or permanently.
Personal terms are not thought to be set to be a problem, with Cancelo having already broadly agreed contract terms should a deal be concluded between the two clubs.
