Barcelona president Joan Laporta has offered another update on the futures of Manchester City star Joao Cancelo.
There’s been lots of talk about the futures of the Portugal international already, with Barca thought to be keen to keep hold of him permanently.
Signing him will be a problem for Barca, due to their financial issues, but Laporta seems confident the Man City players could continue at the club.
Apart from the Manchester City owned player, the La Liga side had also signed João Félix on a loan deal from Atlético Madrid in the last window.
Both the right-back and the forward are represented by super-agent Jorge Mendes and the Catalan club have a firm desire to retain them beyond their loan spells.
Laporta feels optimistic and revealed that both Pep Guardiola’s side and Los Rojiblancos have made the conditions clear to buy the 29-year-old and Félix respectively.
“The players’ agent is the same, and the two clubs [Manchester City and Atlético Madrid], with whom we have a good relationship and know each other a lot, have already guided us as to what the steps are for the operations to be concluded, so that they join Barcelona,” he said in an interview with EFE, relayed by AS.
“We are interested in them not being on loan, but rather belonging to the squad. Let’s see how it evolves. It’ll be addressed in due course. I believe that both the Cancelo operation and that of Félix are operations that all parties will be satisfied with.”
It’s still difficult to see how Barca can afford to land both players next summer. There’s already been speculation Barca will try to negotiate a cut-price fee for Cancelo.
Cancelo’s deal at the Etihad is until 2027 and his relationship with the Citizens manager has strained since the start of this year.
The Portugal international defender has scored three goals and registered two assists from 20 games this season for Barca.
