“He wants the move” - Fabrizio Romano confirms Barcelona will use part of Ousmane Dembele budget to sign Premier League superstar
Fabrizio Romano has reported that Manchester City star Joao Cancelo has agreed terms with Barcelona. He claims that the Catalan side plans to use the money they get from the sale of Ousmane Dembele to sign the Premier League superstar.
After falling out with Pep Guardiola last season, Cancelo has no future at Manchester City. He was loaned out to Bayern Munich for the second half of the season, but the Bundesliga side decided not to activate their €70 million option to sign him permanently.
Xavi has asked Barcelona to sign a right-back this summer as he does not want to use Jules Kounde and Sergi Roberto in that position. He admitted that they were interested in signing Cancelo in the January window and said:
"We wanted João Cancelo at Barça in January, he was offered and we said yes. Man City discussed that internally and then told us they did NOT want to allow João to join Barca."
Arsenal and Real Madrid were also linked with a move for Cancelo, but have not made a move yet.
Pep Guardiola has not plans for Barcelona target at Manchester City
Pep Guardiola has confirmed that he has no plans for Joao Cancelo at Manchester City. The manager revealed that they were ready to let the Barcelona target leave for any club in the January window, as he wanted him out of the club.
He told Spanish media via Euro ES Euro:
"I think they have informed him very badly. He is far from reality. The reality was that we decided that he had to leave. We didn't care where he was going, even if he wanted to go to United, which is our rival. There is his agent, and the clubs they agree. I won't say that they deceived him but that they misinformed him."
He added:
"This is a matter of Txiki [Begiristain, Sporting Director], of City, of his representative, and of the club that loves him. I have no idea [why he didn't sign for Barca]. We didn't get any offers."
Manchester City are ready to listen to offers from Barcelona for Cancelo, but the Catalan side are still not in a financial condition to make a move yet. However, they are looking to use the money from the sale of Ousmane Dembele to PSG and get the Portuguese star.