OFFICIAL: Joao Cancelo joins Spanish club Barcelona from Man City
According to a report by Fabrizio Romano, Joao Cancelo is close to finalizing his transfer from Manchester City to Barcelona, which validates what has been common knowledge for some time now.
The Portuguese international, who is now 29 years old, was formerly highly regarded at Manchester City but has since fallen out of favor there. As a result, he was loaned out to Bayern Munich for the second half of the previous season.
Back at the Etihad, his departure was a certain conclusion for the upcoming summer, and Barcelona had been exerting significant effort during the course of numerous negotiations.
Onward and upward!
An important step forward in the negotiations was taken at the beginning of this month when Barcelona and Manchester City reached an agreement on a loan arrangement that includes a buy option with a value of €25 million. The purchase option will be exercised if certain conditions are fulfilled.
In spite of the fact that everything was in order, the operation had been put on hold for a while this past week due to Barcelona and the circumstances involving Financial Fair Play.
But at this point, it appears that everything has been resolved, and the two clubs are already exchanging agreements that are scheduled to be signed today. Romano is giving the operation his signature “Here we go” seal of approval.
In point of fact, Romano reveals that Cancelo, who is presently in Portugal, is all set to make the journey to Barcelona tonight in order to complete the loan deal.
Gerard Romero offers more information by saying that the medical examination of the Portuguese international will take place tomorrow.
A key signing
Set to arrive at last. (Photo by CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP via Getty Images)
Cancelo’s arrival will be a huge boost for Barcelona who have had issues in the right-back position for a while now.
Only last night, the Blaugrana were all over the place defensively against Villarreal, with Sergi Roberto, who started at right-back, struggling big time. It even resulted in the club captain receiving a telling-off from manager Xavi.
Cancelo is a proven performer at the highest level and comes with an abundance of experience on the biggest stage, having played for clubs like Man City, Inter Milan, and Juventus, among others.
Having waited for a while for the operation to go through, Barcelona will finally close the book on the right-back’s signing soon.
