Barcelona have been handed some good news in their bid to land Joao Cancelo on a permanent transfer from parent club Al-Hilal.
Cancelo returned to Barcelona in the winter transfer window and impressed in his second stint back at the club under Hansi Flick.
Sources “close” to the negotiation have now told Mundo Deportivo that Al-Hilal are “no longer opposed to his departure and are no longer asking for the €15 million release clause.”
Indeed his departure is viewed as inevitable as Cancelo does not want
to return and does not have a good relationship with coach Simone Inzaghi.
Barcelona will still need to find some sort of agreement with Al-Hilal for Cancelo, as he does still have a year left on his deal, but it looks as though the Saudi club have resigned themselves to losing the Portugal international.
As for Cancelo, he made his feelings clear at the end of the season – sending out a message that read: “Barcelona isn’t just a club, it’s a stage where football turns into art, where exceptional players enter history” and insisting he was “born for this style.”
