Joao Cancelo’s future remains far from clear following a bright spell on loan at Barcelona in the second half of the 2025-26 season.
The Portugal star impressed in his second stint at Barcelona after arriving in the winter window and has regularly made his affection for the club clear.
Barcelona are now trying to keep hold of him on a permanent basis but it won’t be easy. The latest update claims that Al-Hilal have summoned Cancelo to return for pre-season as soon as he finishes international duty
with Portugal at World Cup 2026, per Saudi newspaper Arriyadiyah.
Cancelo still has a year left on his Al-Hilal contract but has been openly critical of the Saudi club. He spoke about some of the difficulties he had encountered back in May: “At Al Hilal, unfortunately, I had people who didn’t tell me the truth. They told me they were going to register me on the Saudi league list, and then, when the day came, they didn’t.”
Al-Hilal are due to return for pre-season at the start of July and will head off for a training camp from July 15 to August 4.
Cancelo is currently with the Portugal squad preparing for a World Cup Round 32 tie against Croatia on Thursday, and a decision on his future still looks to be some way off.
