Deco eyeing move to sign 28-year-old Portugal star at Barcelona after taking over as sporting director: Reports
Deco is reportedly set to take over from Mateu Alemany as Barcelona's sporting director this summer and he already has his first target in mind. He wants to bring in Cancelo from Manchester City and is already working on getting Vitor Roque from Athletico Paranaense.
As per a report in El Nacional, Cancelo will be the first big target for Deco when he takes charge at Camp Nou. The 28-year-old fullback is currently on loan at Bayern Munich and does not see a future at the Premier League side.
However, Bayern Munich have no intention to pay the €70 million fee agreed upon with Manchester City, as per the report. This has seen Barcelona jump into the mix, and they are hoping to lure the defender to Camp Nou.
Manager Xavi wants to add a right-back in the summer as he does not want to deploy Jules Kounde as a full-back. Barcelona reportedly tried to sign Cancelo in the January window but failed to agree a deal.
The Portuguese right-back has made 18 appearances for Bayern since his January move, contributing one goal and five assists.
Why did Barcelona target Joao Cancelo leave Manchester City?
Joao Cancelo was not happy with his game time at Manchester City and decided to head out on loan. He started 16 Premier League games this season with manager Pep Guardiola choosing Nathan Ake and Rico Lewis ahead of Cancelo.
The Portuguese has admitted that the Spaniard's tactics were not suiting his style and thus a move away from the club was the need of the hour.
He told O Jogo:
"As I already said, he [Guardiola] found a way to play, after the World Cup, in which he started playing with a full-back more inside, where I also played, and he liked what he saw with Rico and Nathan. I think a player is always a bit selfish. Any player wants to feel important, wants to play and anyone who says otherwise is lying. A competitive player, like me, who aspires to win titles, just wants to play."
He continued:
"It's like Pep said, I need to play to be happy. It's not a question of devaluing my teammates, because others are on the bench to play. But I thought I deserved to play and he didn't. So we talked, it was a conversation, not a discussion, and we decided that the best thing would be for me to leave this market. An opportunity I couldn't refuse. But I'm very grateful to City and the fans."
Bayern Munich agreed to a €70 million option to sign him permanently in the summer, but manager Thomas Tuchel is not a fan of the Barcelona target.