Manchester City defender, Joao Cancelo has 'agreed personal terms' with Barcelona, according to reports.
Much uncertainty hangs over the 29-year-old's future at the
Premier League champions, with Cancelo having spent the second half of last
season on loan at Bayern Munich after falling out of favour with Pep Guardiola.
Mail Sport reported back in January that the Portugal
international had been involved in a furious training ground bust-up with the
Spanish manager, which sparked his shock exit from the club.
But it now appears that he could be set to depart the Etihad
once again, with Fabrizio Romano reporting that the right back, who's contract
at Man City runs out in 2027 'has agreed personal terms with Barcelona and
wants the move'.
The Italian journalist also claimed: 'Xavi wanted to sign
him since January as a priority target with talks now ongoing with Man City
over a deal structure.'
With Ousmane Dembele looking likely to leave the Nou Camp in
a £43million move to Paris Saint-Germain, the cash strapped club are, per
Romano, hoping to use some of the funds from the French forward's sale to
acquire Cancelo.
Barcelona have, for some time, been interested in bringing
the defender to Catalonia, with Mail Sport reporting back in May that the
LaLiga outfit were interested in signing him on a season-long loan.
It was reported yesterday that the club were in talks to
sign the defender, with Guardiola dismissing claims from his former
counterpart, Xavi, that he had blocked a move to sign for the Spanish giants
back in January.
Cancelo, who joined Man City in 2019 for £27.4m, instead
went on to play 21 times for Bayern across all competitions, notably helping
Thomas Tuchel's side clinch the Bundesliga title on the final game of the
season.
Following his departure from City, he claimed his surprise
move to the Bundesliga had nothing to do with his relationship with Guardiola.
Interestingly, the Bavarian outfit were unwilling to trigger
a £62m option to secure the defender on a permanent deal.
Cancelo has played in three of Man City's pre-season
friendlies so far this summer, notably coming off the bench to help the Premier
League champions defeat his former club, Bayern, 2-1 in Tokyo last week.
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