Barcelona no longer moving forward with pursuit of former defender – Romano | OneFootball

In the past few days, reports emerged claiming that FC Barcelona had made enquiries about the situation of former on-loan defender Joao Cancelo, who is currently at Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.

The Blaugrana, who have close ties with the Portuguese right-back’s agent Jorge Mendes, asked for details as the player appears set to leave Al Hilal this month.

The veteran star, who is fully aware of the enquiries made by Barça, is also attracting interest from Inter Milan and Juventus.

Barcelona not moving forward with Cancelo

However, according to Fabrizio Romano (h/t Carpetas FCB), Barcelona are no longer moving forward in their pursuit of Cancelo.

It could suggest that the La Liga champions have decided to end their interest in re-signing the former Manchester City ace and focus on other targets.

Cancelo move off. (Photo by Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)

Manager Hansi Flick made it clear during his press conference earlier today that the club are looking into the possibility of strengthening the defensive line in the January window.

“That’s a difficult question. We’re not ready yet. When you look at the back line, with centre-backs and full-backs, we need one more player,” he said.

“But we have to discuss it, and it’s not difficult to sign a quality player in the winter transfer window. I’m confident we can do something, but it has to make sense.”

After all, the injury to Andreas Christensen has sidelined him for four months, leaving Flick short on personnel.

So, while Cancelo was initially considered to strengthen at right-back, which would in turn have freed up Jules Kounde or Eric Garcia to play in central defence, that option appears to be off the table for now.

It remains to be seen how Barcelona decide to move forward in search of their defensive reinforcement in the winter.