Man city star has now made his feelings clear – he is keen to seal a permanent move to Barcelona from Manchester City this summer.
The Portugal international has been with the Spanish giants since the start of the campaign, having fallen out of favour at the Etihad since the start of 2023.
Cancelo reportedly fell out with Pep Guardiola over his lack of game time, and completed a mid-season move to Bayern Munich.
He returned in the summer to play a few games in pre-season for City, but Pep then left him out of his matchday squads for competitive games.
Cancelo then moved to Barcelona on loan on transfer deadline day, and it’s been a decent season for him over in Spain – and he’s now made it clear he wants to stay put…
Joao Cancelo confirms desire to remain with Barcelona after loan from Manchester City
Cancelo has been heavily involved this season for Barcelona.
So far, he has made 30 appearances and played 2334 minutes, scoring four goals and laying on three assists.
Cancelo has impressed for the most part, although he’s had a few games where he’s been criticised for his defending. In the 5-3 defeat to Villarreal, Cancelo admitted afterwards that he was a ‘disaster’, after coming on at half-time.
But throughout the season, Cancelo has been praised by Xavi.
Club president Joan Laporta and the sporting director Deco have both commented publicly about signing the player permanently.
There had been suggestions from the media that Cancelo did not want to return to City, but there hasn’t been any actual word from the player – until now.
Cancelo appeared at the presentation of Ronald Araujo’s documentary and was asked by a reporter if he wanted to continue at Barca next year. Mundo Deportivo report that there was not a moment’s hesitation from the star, as he said ‘Si, si’ (Yes, yes).
Barcelona have to meet City’s valuation
It is probably no real surprise that Cancelo is keen to stay put at Barca.
It seems like he has no future at the Etihad and that what happened between him and Guardiola is not really fixable. If it was, he surely would have been reintegrated into the squad ahead of the current season.
Now, it is a question of whether Barca can stump up the appropriate cash to sign Cancelo permanently.
It may be the wish of the player to stay, but ultimately that is irrelevant as to whether he does sign for the Spanish giants.
City will have a valuation, and it is up to Barcelona to meet that valuation
