"All parties will be happy at the end" - Joan Laporta provides fresh update on the futures of 2 Barcelona stars
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has indicated that the club wishes to permanently sign Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix.
Both players are currently on loan at the Catalan club, and their temporary spells end in the summer of 2024. The Atletico Madrid loanee Felix has made 19 appearances for La Blaugrana, bagging six goals and assisting three across all competitions this season.
Meanwhile, Cancelo, who fell out of favor at Manchester City last season, spent the second half of the 2022/23 campaign on loan at Bayern Munich. He then joined Xavi and Co. in the summer of 2023 and has since made 20 appearances across competitions, scoring three goals and assisting two.
In an interview with Spanish news agency EFE, Laporta said (via The Athletic):
"Their agent, who is the same, and both clubs have already oriented us on the figures that should be met to conclude the deals and bring them to Barca."
He added:
“We are interested in both of them not being on loan but a part of this club. We’ll see how it progresses, signings will be assessed on the right time. I think both Cancelo and Felix are cases from which all parties will be happy at the end.”
Both Portuguese starts have helped Barcelona to third place in La Liga so far, with 35 points. The Catalan side also secured top spot in their UEFA Champions League group and will now face Napoli in the Round of 16.
Barcelona face a tricky UEFA Champions League Round-of-16 test vs Napoli
Barcelona qualified on top of their Champions League group, finishing level on points with second-placed Porto. They lost just two matches, one of which was a dead rubber against Royal Antwerp (3-2, December 13).
La Blaugrana face a tricky challenge in the next stage of the tournament when they take on Napoli, who finished second in Group C with 10 points. Their two losses in the competition came at the hands of group leaders Real Madrid.
On both occasions, the Italian side gave a good account of themselves. They lost the first fixture 3-2 at home (October 3) and then conceded two late goals at the Santiago Bernabeu to suffer a 4-2 defeat on November 30.
However, Napoli are struggling in Serie A, currently placed fifth, 14 points adrift of table-toppers Inter Milan.