Barcelona dealt major setback in pursuit of Manchester City defender | OneFootball

Joao Cancelo is now back to being a Manchester City player after his loan spell at FC Barcelona came to an end on June 30.

However, the Blaugrana are working hard to re-sign the Portuguese defender on another loan deal, with the player himself keen on returning to the Catalan outfit.

But Cancelo’s return to Barça on another loan deal could be very complicated to pull off as Manchester City have other ideas for the right-back.

Manchester City will not loan out Cancelo

Indeed, as per SPORT, Manchester City have already told Barcelona that they are not interested in extending a loan deal for Cancelo, dealing the Catalans a major setback.

Instead, the Premier League champions will only negotiate a permanent transfer in order to definitively break the link with the player who is not in Pep Guardiola’s plans.

Manchester City are clear that the priority is to sell him this summer and are already considering two offers from Saudi Arabia to sell him, although for now, they do not have Cancelo’s approval.

Cancelo’s return to Barça looking difficult. (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images)

Barça’s proposal was clear from the outset and was conveyed to Man City through the player’s agent, Jorge Mendes. The Blaugrana communicated that they wanted to retain Cancelo through another loan deal but with an option to buy at the end of the season.

Man City, though, have closed the door on that possibility and everything indicates that they will not budge from their position, at least not in the coming weeks.

Cancelo holds the key

With Manchester City unwilling to waver from their stance, Cancelo himself will now hold the key if Barcelona are to sign him on loan.

Like he did last summer, the Portuguese international must stand firm on his insistence to sign for Barça and refuse other proposals which would force the Cityzens to give in and agree to a deal, much like in 2023.

Barça’s sporting director, Deco, met with Jorge Mendes in Porto a few days ago to analyse the situation of Cancelo and Joao Felix and as things stand, the deals for the Portuguese pair will not be straightforward.