Comes from Saudi Arabia
©IMAGO
Perfect return: João Cancelo (31) is wearing the FC Barcelona jersey again – again on loan. After a year and a half in the Saudi Pro League with Al-Hilal, the full-back will play for the Catalans for the rest of the season, as the club confirmed on Tuesday afternoon. As in 2023/24, when Cancelo contributed four goals and five assists in 42 games while on loan from Man City, he will wear the number two shirt.
Following his time in Barcelona, Cancelo moved to Al-Hilal for a fee of 25 million euros. However, after 17 scorers in 45 competitive games, he was no longer registered for the Saudi Pro League last September due to the foreigner regulations. A fortunate circumstance for Barça.
“We signed him because he is a great player,” said sports director Deco before the presentation. “He offers us many solutions that we did not have before. He is a great player and it is a transfer that would not normally have been possible and that came about through a series of coincidences: Cancelo is crazy about Barça, he reduced his salary, was not registered and had an agreement to leave the club.”
Barça is reportedly paying 4 million euros in salary for the 64-time national player, whose contract with Al-Hilal runs until 2027. On paper, however, the commitment does not cause any additional costs, as Andreas Christensen (29) will be out for the second half of the season after partially tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in mid-December, freeing up enough space in the budget in view of the salary cap.
Instead of Cancelo: FC Barcelona initially wanted another central defender
Coach Hansi Flick had initially preferred another alternative for the center of defense, but after Ronald Araujo (26) returned, his attention turned to the wings. Flick recently emphasized that Cancelo could offer even more options, including offensively. “We talked about bringing in a centre-back, but I think it makes more sense this way. It’s six months, it’s a good option.”