Barcelona target agrees to join Al Hilal – €25m fee, €15m-a-year contract until 2027 | OneFootball

Barcelona right-back target Joao Cancelo has agreed to sign for Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal from Manchester City, Fabrizio Romano reports.

The Italian transfer expert has given the ‘Here we go’ seal for the move, stating that there is already a verbal agreement between all parties and Cancelo has also completed the first part of his medicals, with the signing of the documentation now pending.

€25 million fee for Manchester City

Cancelo had been a target for Barcelona ever since he returned to Manchester City after a loan spell in the Catalan capital.

Both the club and the player were keen on a reunion and superagent Jorge Mendes tried hard to mediate an agreement between Barça and Man City.

However, the Premier League champions held firm on their stance of wanting to sell Cancelo permanently whereas Barcelona could only offer another loan deal.

Even though Cancelo held out hope of securing a move to Barça, he has now given in and agreed to join Al Hilal.

The Saudi Arabian club will pay a transfer fee of €25 million to Manchester City for the Portuguese international’s signing.

Meanwhile, the defender has agreed a three-year contract until 2027 with a salary of up to €15 million per season net.

With Cancelo now gone, it will be interesting to see if Barcelona decide to go after UD Almeria’s Marc Pubill before the window closes or stick with their current options at right-back.

After all, Hansi Flick has Jules Kounde as his preferred starter with Hector Fort as backup while Marc Casado can also fill in at right-back if needed.