Barcelona must act quickly as doors close on key departure

Manchester City manager / head coach Pep Guardiola in discussion with Joao Cancelo of Manchester City (Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images)

Manchester City: The Battle of the Two Portuguese

Barca’s massive operation to secure Lautaro Martinez involved Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. The Catalan giants wanted to sign Joao Cancelo from the Premier League side to immediately involve him in the deal for Lautaro as Inter Milan have been known to be interested in the player. The reality was that Pep was not interested in Semedo’s services and Cancelo’s salary demands also pushed Barca off his scent. In addition, his transfer would have complicated Barca’s attempts to balance their books this summer. Multiple issues led to this operation being broken.