FC Barcelona have reached an agreement for a Premier League star according to the Catalan media.
FC Barcelona have reached an agreement in principle to sign a Premier
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Joao Cancelo has been on the Catalans’ radar since January when his Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola reportedly blocked him from joining them on loan.
Cancelo headed to Bayern Munich instead winning the Bundesliga there, but the Bavarians did not make his temporary move permanent.
Barca have continued to chase Cancelo over the summer with Xavi Hernandez publicly speaking out on the need to secure a right back.
There have been reports that Xavi’s preference for proven star Cancelo caused him to clash with recently announced sporting director Deco, who wanted the club to snap up the younger and cheaper Ivan Fresneda from Real Valladolid.
In his prematch press conference ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Cadiz, Xavi was forced to deny a rift with his former teammate.
“This does not mean that I speak badly of Deco, I have an extraordinary relationship [with him ever] since we were teammates. We will be at ease,” Xavi said, after praising outgoing director of football Mateu Alemany.
“Mateu’s work has been extraordinary, you can’t understand today’s Barca without him or Jordi [Cruyff].
“We have been talking to Deco for several days, we will do a good job. Debate settled. We are in tune, we already had it on the field. He has leadership and personality,” Xavi concluded on the matter.
Though he might still be smarting from a two-match ban picked up at Getafe, after being red card and slamming officiating he found an “embarrassment”, Xavi will be pleased by developments this weekend reported on by SPORT.
According to the Catalan daily newspaper, Barca have reached an agreement in principle to take Cancelo on loan with the deal including a purchase option that will be mandatory if the Portugual international plays 70% of Barca’s games and the club reaches the Champions League last 16.
Xavi’s men have failed to do this in their last two attempts by falling short of successfilly qualifying out of the group.
With Cancelo on board, though, they will finally boast the natural right back Xavi craves with central defender Jules Kounde – who provided cover there in 2022/2023 – able to focus on what he does best.