Joao Cancelo appears to be on track to transfer from Manchester City to FC Barcelona in the near future
Following news that the 29-year-old was close to joining the La Liga winners, there appears to have been a significant change in the situation.
In fact, Jordi Gil of SPORT reports that following protracted and strenuous negotiations, Barcelona and Manchester City have struck an understanding in principle about the Cancelo trade. Cancelo negotiations between Barça and Man City have been ongoing for a while, with Jorge Mendes serving as the mediator.
The two teams have finally agreed on a settlement in principle after it looked that negotiations had made progress earlier this week. According to the rumour, Cancelo will sign a season-long loan agreement with Barcelona that includes an inbuilt purchase option for little under €30 million.
The buy option is considered to be optional and contingent upon achieving a number of goals, such as the Portuguese international participating in 70% of the Blaugrana’s official matches and the team making it to the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League.
To strengthen the right-back position, which has been a problem for Barcelona for far too long, Xavi has been lobbying hard for Cancelo to be signed. Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde may continue to play in their natural center-back positions because the 29-year-old will enter the game as the indisputable starter in that position. It appears that Cancelo will arrive in Catalonia soon after a general understanding has been achieved.
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