Manchester City Outcast Joao Cancelo faces Man City transfer uncertainty with Barca manager decision after sacking of Xavi
Joao Cancelo, who is presently on loan at Barcelona from Manchester City, appears to have an unclear future moving into the summer transfer window, considering the Spanish club’s rocky selection of new boss.
After burning bridges with his parent club, the Portuguese full-back has spent time away from the Etihad Stadium, first on loan to Bayern Munich during City’s treble-winning season, and then to Barcelona this season. He has made 41 appearances for Xavi Hernandez’s team and contributed eight goals.
Cancelo would then be eligible to return to his parent club, where he has three years remaining on his contract. Given what has transpired, departure conversations would need to take place again.
When City and their Catalan rivals agreed on the agreement last summer, it was made clear that there would be no chance to acquire the player outright during the following transfer window. This has resulted in months of conflicting speculations, the most recent of which claims the defender will not be returning to Camp Nou.
According to the Spanish daily SPORT, it has officially been announced that Xavi will not continue to lead Barcelona, and his likely replacement Hansi Flick is not a fan of Cancelo. The German does not feel he has the necessary defensive talents to work as part of his system and would rather explore alternatives on the transfer market.
The only stumbling block in Flick’s strategy appears to be the club’s propensity for using the loan market rather than making permanent transfers.
This is a significant shift from only two weeks ago. Xavi announced his resignation earlier this year, but the board persuaded him to stay. With confidence between the two strong, continuity had essentially guaranteed Cancelo a second loan, but that route would now be closed under Flick, with Barcelona certain to make a managerial change once the season was over.
Second, this represents a significant shift in opinions of Cancelo, who was formerly considered as the most expensive player in his position when he played a key role in Pep Guardiola’s title-winning squads in 2020/21 and 2021/22.
Finally, it should mean City will be on the lookout for possible bidders to either arrange a third consecutive loan or, better still, reclaim as much of the £60 million they paid out in 2019.
