I know you’ve probably heard this one before, but Barcelona is closing in on the signing of Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo, at least according to reports in Spain.
Xavi has long held Cancelo in high regard, believing that the Manchester City man is the ideal candidate to complete his defence.
Right back has been a consistent problem area for Barca over the years, and Cancelos’s experience is seen as the perfect remedy.
According to the report by AS, all three parties are motivated to make this deal happen with the Portuguese defender falling out of favour with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
Why is Joao Cancelo a key target for Xavi?
Over the course of the pre-season, we’ve seen why attracting a right-back target is so important to Xavi, especially if Barcelona hope to challenge for Europe’s greatest honour, the Champions League.
Sergino Dest set out to prove that Barca already had the answer in-house, but his underwhelming performances in the USA left a lot to be desired.
His first start against Arsenal was so underwhelming, that Xavi chose to play Ronald Araujo, a centre-back, out of position for the rest of the tour.
According to reports, Xavi believes that 18-year-old Ivan Fresneda, who’s been consistently linked with Barca this summer, lacks the experience to play in the first-team.
It’s believed that Cancelo is very open to the idea of joining Barcelona, having spent part of last season on loan at Bayern Munich, but the financial situation has always been a concern.
Barcelona has raised considerable funds this week with the sales of Franck Kessie and Ousmane Dembele, as well as a financial lever being pulled, so maybe there is just enough room for Cancelo.
The belief is that the agreement will be based on a one-year loan deal with an obligation to buy, and AS suggests that the deal can be done within the next week.
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