Inter Target Cancelo Biding His Time for Barcelona | OneFootball

Inter have quickly reached an agreement in principle with Al-Hilal for Joao Cancelo, but the defender is waiting to see whether he could return to another of his former clubs, Barcelona, which have different priorities at the moment, Corriere della Sera informs.

The two sides will iron out the deal if the fullback greenlights his move to San Siro. It’d likely be a swap of loans. The Saudi club is interested in Stefan De Vrij and Francesco Acerbi, who have a strong connection to Simone Inzaghi. The two veterans are likely to depart in June anyway.

Inter would pay just a fraction of the salary of Cancelo, about €3M, for the next six months, and then take stock at the end of the campaign. The Portuguese international is on his way out, as Al-Hilal have decided to lean on different foreigners, and they can only have so many in their squad.

The 31-year-old is fond of his time in Catalunya and would like to go back. His agent Jorge Mendes is in touch with Barcelona, but they are more inclined to add a center-back, as Andreas Christensen recently suffered a serious injury.

Our Take on Inter and Cancelo

It’s pretty jarring to see how quickly and easily Saudi franchises get rid of their players, which could be an opportunity for other outfits too. Considering the Nerazzurri’s habits, they won’t wait for long, as they aren’t prone to having to convince players to join, which is understandable. It’d be a little odd if they opened another hole to plug a temporary one. While Acerbi and De Vrij aren’t top options, they are still part of the rotation.