When Barcelona president Joan Laporta met with the media this week, he admitted that the La Liga champions were missing two midfielders and a right back.
Over the last 7 days, a number of players have been linked with a move to the Barca midfield, including Thiago Alcántara and Bernardo Silva, both highly talented midfielders.
Ivan Fresneda has long been tipped as a target for the right-back position, but interest seems to have cooled over the last 3-5 days, so it was only a matter of time before the name Joao Cancelo popped up again.
The Portuguese wing-back has been linked with a move for Barca for a while now, and despite the move being deemed unlikely at the start of June due to financial fair play, it seems as though it may be back on the cards.
Loan deal still a possibility for Cancelo
According to a report in SPORT, talks are advancing between the two sides on a possible loan deal.
The report by Juan Jiminez suggests that Cancelo had become a problem in the Manchester City dressing room and team harmony is key to Xavi.
Part of the issue may have stemmed from a lack of playing time as the 29-year-old made just 17 appearances in the Premier League last term before finding his way on loan to Bayern Munich.
Relations between Xavi and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola became strained in January around the potential deal for Cancelo, but SPORT suggests that tensions have thawed recently.
The former Benfica man would be the ideal signing for Barca considering he can play on both flanks, although with Alejandro Balde roaming the left, he’d spent the majority of his time on the right.
Cancelo is defensively very solid and enjoys getting forward and joining the attack, so it’s understandable that Xavi would have significant interest in the signing.
Cancelo is currently valued around the €40-€50 million range, which puts him out of the reach of the Catalan giants, so any move would need to be a loan deal.