Barcelona have been dealt a financial blow which could inhibit their attempts to sign both Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva from Manchester City.
The futures of City stars Cancelo and Bernardo are uncertain, with both players linked with the Spanish giants.
The Cancelo situation is simple: City want to sell him and the player wants to leave.
The 29-year-old full-back fell out with Pep Guardiola in January over a perceived lack of game time.
The City boss and his coaching staff became so concerned that Cancelo’s would negatively affect the rest of the squad that they decided to loan him to Bayern Munich mid-season without signing a replacement.
Bayern declined to activate the £62m purchase option in the deal, but City still want to sell Cancelo.
City are desperate to keep Bernardo this summer, especially as they have already lost Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez.
As was the case last summer though, Bernardo has told City that he would like to leave. Keen to play in a warmer climate, Barcelona is believed to be his preferred destination.
Barca are interested in both Cancelo and Bernardo, and as reported by Fabrizio Romano on Thursday, have entered into talks with City regarding the former.
Xavi’s side want to make one more attempt to sign Bernardo, with the sale of Ousmane Dembele to Paris Saint-Germain giving them more money to play with.
Double deal seems unlikely
However, Barcelona have reportedly suffered yet another financial setback that could prevent moves for one or both City players.
As reported by Esport3, a German venture capital group that was supposed to put up €65m (£56m) for a 16% stake in Barca Studios has backed out of the deal.
The agreement to sell the stake this summer was included in the feasibility plan the club presented to La Liga to demonstrate they could sign and register new players.
The registration of Barcelona’s summer signings so far – Gundogan, Inigo Martinez and Oriol Romeu – has already been complicated by the delay of payments from other investors, as reported by Forbes.
The situation – described as ‘very urgent for the club’ by Esport3 – makes it unlikely Barca would be able to sign both Bernardo and Cancelo this summer.
