João Cancelo joins FC Barcelona on loan

Barcelona completed the double João signing they craved. Moments after confirming the deal to bring João Félix to Catalonia, they also confirmed the deal that we’ve been waiting for, announcing that Manchester City man João Cancelo would also join on loan for the 2023-24 season.

The loan deal is straightforward, with Barcelona covering the wages of Cancelo and with no purchase option attached. However, it has been revealed that FC Barcelona and Manchester City do have a number in mind for a permanent transfer next summer, believed to be around €25 million as previously reported.

Xavi gets the man he wanted in Cancelo

From the very first game of the pre-season, it became clear that Barcelona were in dire need of a natural right-back if they hoped to compete for the highest honours this year.

Sergino Dest set out to convince Xavi that he was the man for the job, but it quickly became clear that the USMNT didn’t have the talent required, and moved to PSV for his second straight year away from Barcelona.

With Ronal Araujo’s injury, Barcelona were forced to play centre-back Jules Kounde and central midfielder Sergi Roberto at right-back in the previous two games. Now they have an extremely talented and highly regarded right-back on the books.

Although new sporting director Deco was fond of young Spanish defender Ivan Fresneda (who eventually signed for Sporting Lisbon from Valladolid), Xavi preferred someone with more experience and made Cancelo his number one target.

The Portuguese full-back was frozen out at Manchester City having found himself in the Pep doghouse and spent the second half of the 2022-23 season on loan at German champions Bayern Munich.

Bayern made a last-ditch effort to tempt Cancelo back to Munich on transfer deadline day, but Cancelo had his heart set on Spain, and as the sun set in Catalonia his deal was confirmed.

Cancelo made 98 appearances for Manchester City winning a number of titles, known for his attacking intent, he scored 5 goals while in England. He also found the net for Bayern Munich last year in 15 appearances.

Cancelo will likely go straight into the starting lineup tomorrow night against Osasuna considering the issues at right back.