Barcelona and Manchester City are working on finding a formula for Joao Cancelo’s move to Camp Nou.
According to ESPN, Pep Guardiola has omitted the 29-year-old from his squad for Wednesday’s UEFA Super Cup showdown against Sevilla.
Despite being handed plenty of game time during Man City’s pre-season tour of Asia, Cancelo’s future at the Etihad Stadium is dead in the water.
In addition to being left out of the squad for the upcoming European showpiece event, he failed to make the cut for the Cityzens’ 3-0 defeat of Burnley in their Premier League opener last Friday.
Guardiola has long lost faith in the Portugal international, and the versatile defender seems to have failed to recover his confidence.
Cancelo’s six-month loan at Bayern Munich in the second half of last season did him no good as he couldn’t find his feet in the Bundesliga, resulting in his unwilling return to Manchester this summer.
Adding to Barca’s confidence, Man City’s teenage sensation Rico Lewis has penned a new long-term contract, confirming Cancelo’s services are no longer required.
Barcelona could offer Cancelo a fresh start in La Liga, where he previously played for Valencia before moving to Inter Milan.
However, the club’s dreadful financial state requires Man City to agree to loan their outcast out to Spain for a season with an obligation to buy next summer.
While the reigning Premier League holders are open to cutting Cancelo loose in the summer, they’ve shown no interest in accepting a reduced fee, holding out for a whopping €60 million instead.
Man City will reportedly insist on that figure in the obligation clause, which would likely price Barcelona out of a deal for a player Xavi Hernandez was desperate to sign last winter.
Xavi accused Guardiola of blocking the right-back’s switch to Catalunya at the end of last season, forcing the Spaniard to quash the ex-midfielder’s comments.
Barca’s renewed interest in Cancelo amid Xavi’s relentless effort to fill the void at right-back could be a perfect opportunity for the pair to bury the hatchet.
