FC Barcelona targets Joao Cancelo

FC Barcelona is determined to sign Joao Cancelo (32 years old) without any doubt. The Portuguese full-back is one of the Azulgrana club's main targets for the next summer market, alongside the already completed signing of Anthony Gordon. However, within FC Barcelona, ​​the expectation is that this operation will need to be "cooked" in a slow fire.


Catalan leaders know that negotiating with Al Hilal is not easy. Saudi clubs are very careful with their players and fight hard for what they consider theirs. Cancelo still has a year left on his contract in Saudi, which he clearly does not want to fulfill. Furthermore, Al Hilal first needs to resolve internal problems related to its sporting structure. The Saudi club is currently focused on choosing and hiring a sporting director who will be responsible for planning the next season. The first decision of this new director will be whether or not to keep Simone Inzaghi as coach. This is a crucial point, as the Italian coach's relationship with Cancelo is not good, and he intended to get rid of the full-back, which would facilitate the transfer to Barça.

If a new coach takes over, Al Hilal will have to negotiate the contract and discuss, among other matters, the situation involving Barcelona. Cancelo's agent, Jorge Mendes, is also working to find creative solutions that would allow the Portuguese full-back to join Barça. As mentioned previously, one possibility to unlock this situation is through Marc Casadó. The midfielder from Sant Pere de Vilamajor is one of the Saudi club's targets for the next market. If Casadó moves to Al Hilal, Barça could request Cancelo on loan as part of the deal. Meanwhile, both the player and Barça are remaining calm. Cancelo also needs to resolve some financial issues with Al Hilal, and this situation could take some time, so it is not ruled out that negotiations will extend until July. In any case, Cancelo's priority continues to be signing with Barça, with whom he already has an agreement for two seasons.