Barcelona begin work on Manchester City loan signing for 2024/25 season | OneFootball

Manchester City are likely to be subject in renewed transfer interest from FC Barcelona over the services of out-of-favour full-back Joao Cancelo, according to reports.

The Portugal international defender has not featured for Manchester City frequently in competitive matches since the first-half of the club’s historic 2022/23 Treble winning campaign, before exiting the club on an initial six-month loan deal.

A breakdown in relations between the player and manager Pep Guardiola is understood to have seen Cancelo fall down the Catalan’s defensive pecking order, and ultimately force a move to Bayern Munich for the second-half of last season.

Despite returning for pre-season ahead of the ongoing campaign, Joao Cancelo finalised an agreement with FC Barcelona for another 12-month temporary move away from the Etihad Stadium. However, with that deal coming to a close, there is uncertainty over his future again.

According to the information of journalist David Bernabeu Reverter, as translated and relayed by Reshad Rahman, FC Barcelona are ‘working to get’ Joao Cancelo on loan from Manchester City for another one season, with a ‘mandatory option to buy’.

However, in an interesting development, it is claimed that some within the Catalan giants have ‘asked’ club president Joan Laporta to ‘reconsider’ the prospect of the aforementioned deal following the Portugal international’s recent performance against Paris Saint-Germain.

It is highly unlikely that Manchester City would welcome back Joao Cancelo into their first-team set-up, with the Premier League champions valuing squad harmony highly, and also the personal behaviours of squad members.

Since Cancelo’s exit, Manchester City’s defensive unit have developed and performed to the highest level, with Kyle Walker becoming club captain and Rico Lewis excelling in a variety of roles through the opening in the first-team squad.

While City could yet recruit in the summer in the right-back position, or look to integrate Brazil international Yan Couto into the team, club officials will almost certainly remain focussed on securing a deal to keep Cancelo away from the City Football Academy.