It is no secret that Manchester City want to offload Joao Cancelo this summer, and the club are ready to take a big hit in the full-back.
Cancelo is not in the plans of Pep Guardiola, who is said to not even want Cancelo around for pre-season.
The pair reportedly fell out midway through the 2023/24 season after the player reacted badly to his lack of game time at the time. Cancelo spent the reason of that season on loan at Bayern Munich.
In 2023/24, Cancelo was loaned to Barcelona, and the player would like to return to the Spanish giants. This has been creating an issue for City, because Barca can’t afford to buy the Portugal international this summer.
City are hoping a Saudi club can make an offer to Cancelo to turn his head away from Barca.
But Cancelo is apparently ‘freezing interest’ from other clubs in order to put pressure on City and bring his proposed move to Barca to fruition.
Man City could now sell Joao Cancelo for just £17m
It has been reported by SPORT today that City could now slash their asking price for Cancelo.
Previously, it had been suggested that City valued Cancelo around the £21 million mark, which was already a very low valuation for a player of his quality.
But now, SPORT say that City could sell Cancelo for as little as £17 million this summer amid interest from Barca.
City are said to be ‘trying to speed up’ the process of selling Cancelo, which does potentially validate the claims that Pep doesn’t want him around for pre-season.
Perhaps this is a move designed to entice Barcelona into buying Cancelo this summer. But despite this extremely low asking price, SPORT say Barca still only want to sign Cancelo on loan with an option to buy, not an obligation.
In some potential good news for City, Juventus are also said to be interested in Cancelo. The Italian giants might be in a position to pay that £17 million asking price for their former player.
Quick sale would be ideal
In an ideal world, Cancelo would be sold as quickly as possibly, because it seems clear there is no future for him at the club while Pep is still the manager.
It is a shame the situation is how it is. Cancelo was once a top player at the club, and Pep previously branded him ‘a player with huge quality’.
But there seems to be no chance of a reconciliation between the pair.
Cancelo therefore cannot stick around, and the club are obviously trying to sell. But his stance of wanting Barca certainly complicates matters.
