Barcelona eye move to sign 28-year-old Premier League star to free Jules Kounde from full-back duties: Reports
Barcelona are reportedly eyeing a move for Manchester City loanee Joao Cancelo to free Jules Kounde from his right-back duties.
The French centre-back arrived at the Spotify Camp Nou last summer for a fee of €55 million from Sevilla after rejecting Chelsea's advances. As per Mundo Deportivo, he chose to join Barca with a desire to play as a centre-back, which is his natural position.
However, Kounde has been forced to deputize at right-back for the majority of the season due to the club's dearth of options in that position. Hector Bellerin was signed last summer but was allowed to join Sporting CP in the winter on a permanent basis.
Sergino Dest, meanwhile, was allowed to leave on a season-long loan to AC Milan in September and could be offloaded this summer. Barcelona are reportedly eyeing a natural right-back who can regularly start in that position and free up Kounde to play at centre-back.
Cancelo has popped up as a serious option for the Catalan giants. The Portuguese full-back, by his own admission, left Manchester City for a six-month loan spell at Bayern Munich in January in search of more playing time.
Cancelo seems to have fallen out of favor at the Etihad and a move to Barcelona could rekindle his career. The 28-year-old can play down both flanks in defense and such is his ability on the ball that he was utilized by Pep Guardiola in midfield on a handful of occasions.
So far, the former SL Benfica full-back has managed one goal and five assists in 16 games across competitions for Bayern Munich. His contract at Manchester City expires in the summer of 2027.
Joao Cancelo has already named Barcelona legend as football's best-ever full-back
Manchester City loanee Joao Cancelo has admitted in the recent past that Barcelona legend Dani Alves is the greatest full-back in the history of the sport.
Speaking to the official Manchester City website in February 2022, Cancelo lavished praise on the Brazilian icon, saying:
"I’ll be honest, in my position, my childhood idol is Daniel Alves... Daniel Alves, in my opinion, is the best full-back ever. I’m a huge fan of his work, I am a fan of what he does on the pitch but also of the sense of freedom with which he plays. The joy with which he plays this sport, with which he loves this sport. He’s a role model for me in that regard."
Alves registered 28 goals and 105 assists in 408 career games for Barcelona. The 39-year-old, who last played for UNAM Pumas until January, has won a record 43 trophies in his career. Twenty-three of those came during his nine seasons with the Blaugrana.