Barcelona have openly declared a desire to hold onto Joao Cancelo this summer, but that will depend on Manchester City, who would rather sell the 30-year-old. With finances tight in Catalonia, they are more keen on another loan deal.
The Portuguese defender showed flashes of his quality at Barcelona this year, but was often operating at left-back and was exposed defensively. That came back to bite the Blaugrana in their two biggest games of the season, the Liga Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu, and their Champions League return leg against Paris Saint-Germain, where mistakes from Cancelo played a major role in their defeats.
However the Blaugrana have now started talks with agent Jorge Mendes and Manchester City about a fresh loan deal. MD say that they have received other offers for Cancelo though, and City have communicated to Mendes, as was the case last summer, that they would rather accept a transfer for Cancelo, in a bid to move his salary off the books and recoup some of the €65.5m they spent on him, with Danilo going the other way.
Last summer Arsenal were reportedly interested in Cancelo, but his decision to prioritise the Blaugrana meant that City were faced with little choice but to find a deal with Barcelona. It looks as if things will play out in the same manner this summer, unless Cancelo changes his mind on a departure destination.
