In what could be a threat to FC Barcelona and their pursuit of signing a quality right-back, journalist Pol Ballus has reported via The Athletic that Joao Cancelo has attracted strong interest from Saudi Arabia.
It is known that Cancelo is not wanted by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and it could be understood by the fact that he was despite not being injured, he was omitted from the squad that faced Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup recently.
Now, although Barcelona have been his admirers for quite a long time, City have not been approached either by the Blaugrana or his agent Jorge Mendes.
Another fish in the Saudi sea
Given the current set of circumstances, it is believed that City are still firm with their intention of selling Cancelo, but contrary to media reports, they are yet to receive an offer from Barcelona.
As far as Barça are concerned, in spite of strong interest, dwindling finances have forced them to look for different ways to acquire the full-back.
As reported before, the team from Catalonia is not really looking for a direct transfer. Instead, considering the difficulty to pay a transfer fee, they are preferring a loan with an option to buy at the end of the season.
The will of the Portuguese international, whose market value is €50 million, is to join Barcelona as he is aware of Deco and Xavi’s commitment.
And while it is expected to be the key to closing the Barça route, a tempting offer from Saudi could take little to no time for Manchester City to wrap up the deal.
The Middle East has already left €35 million in City’s purse for the sale of the Riyad Mahrez to Al-Ahli and they would not mind more incoming coming in from their league.
But Cancelo is understood to have agreed personal terms with Barcelona already and all that remains now is for the two clubs to iron out the details of the operation.