Barcelona is racing against time to adjust its situation in the last days of the transfer market and sign a number of important deals that German coach Hans Flick needs in the team.
Barcelona started the season very strongly and managed to win at Mestalla, Valencia’s home, in addition to an important victory over the stubborn Athletic Bilbao to lead the league table from the beginning of the season, but there are many problems that must be solved.
In a big surprise, Portuguese Joao Cancelo, the right-back of Manchester City, who spent last season on loan to Barcelona, refuses to sacrifice again for the sake of the Catalan club.
Cancelo returned to City again after the end of the loan period this summer, and despite making sacrifices by reducing his salary to move to Barcelona last summer, the Portuguese full-back does not intend to repeat his action.
The Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo reported that Cancelo does not want to wait for Barcelona until the last day of the summer Mercato, as happened before, and does not seem ready to reduce his salary by two million euros to facilitate his transfer to the Blaugrana.
What Cancelo intends to do contradicts Barcelona’s plan, which is proceeding according to last year’s scenario, while City refuses to repeat the loan without financial benefit, and what makes things very complicated for Barça is the presence of a strong competitor willing to pay money to obtain the player’s card, which is Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia.
Barcelona’s management, headed by Joan Laporta, was betting on the Cancelo deal to be the required reinforcement for the right-back position, but things seem very complicated at the present time.