Manchester City defender will reject all clubs in favour of Barcelona in the summer – report
Barcelona completed the signings of a fair few players in the summer of 2023, the biggest of which was Ilkay Gundogan.
The German was coming off a spectacular treble-winning campaign with Manchester City as captain, and pushed to join Barcelona as his ‘childhood dream’.
By the final couple days of the transfer window, Barcelona then pushed to sign Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix on loan from Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, respectively.
The Portuguese duo have not been half-bad this season, with Cancelo, especially, earning plaudits for his game-changing performances as both, a right and left-back.
Barcelona are hoping to push for permanent moves for both players, and have been issued a huge boost in the pursuit of Cancelo.
Cancelo only wants Barcelona
According to a report published on Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing on Caught Offside, Joao Cancelo will reject all moves he is offered in the summer in favour of staying at Barcelona.
The Catalans have already publicly stated that they wish to purchase full rights of both players, but will likely face financial obstacles along the way.
Manchester City are expected to demand upwards of €30-35 million for Cancelo, with Barcelona hoping to bring the number down in light of their financial problems.
They might also push to extend the loan of both players, even though that operation will be next to impossible.
Barcelona’s other fullbacks
With Marcos Alonso expected to leave the club on a free transfer by the end of the season, Barcelona will have just two first-team full-backs in Sergi Roberto and Alejandro Balde.
Jules Kounde has done exceedingly well as a full-back, but his future is largely unknown with Barça hoping to sell at least one centre-back in the summer.
Hector Fort is in line to be promoted to the first-team, especially owing to his brilliant performances as both a right and left-back under Xavi.
Assuming Cancelo is also signed, that makes it five fullbacks in the side, but only one who is left-footed.
It remains to be seen what Barcelona’s plans with on-loan stars Alex Valle and Julian Araujo are, especially on the back of their impressive seasons.
