“City will not object” – Manchester City facing huge £40 million transfer loss with cut-price summer sale

Manchester City are facing the prospect of taking a huge transfer hit with the sale of Joao Cancelo to Barcelona this summer.

The future of the 29-year-old is set to come under fresh scrutiny, with the Portugal defender contracted at the Etihad Stadium until 2027 but unlikely to ever feature for Manchester City competitively again, following a dramatic training ground bust-up in January 2023.

Cancelo quit the Etihad Stadium for Bayern Munich for the remainder of campaign last January, before signing for Barcelona on a season-long loan in September, with Pep Guardiola ruling out a return for the full-back.

The 29-year-old could potentially meet Manchester City in the Champions League Final at Wembley Stadium in June, after the two teams were drawn onto separate pathways at the recent quarter-final and semi-final draw in Switzerland.

Cancelo featured for Bayern Munich against City last season in the quarter-finals, with the Sky Blues going on to lift a maiden Champions League title as part of an historic treble.

The full-back was recently granted permission to continue playing following a heart scare, and the defender is preparing to secure his long-term future, with Barcelona keen to permanently sign Cancelo ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

The Daily Star claim that the Catalan club could attempt to complete a deal for as little as £20 million, a sizeably smaller sum than the £60 million Manchester City paid Juventus in August 2019.

Barcelona are attempting to complete deals for both Cancelo and Joao Felix, and the cash-strapped La Liga club remain confident of bringing the loanee to the Camp Nou on a permanent basis.

Speaking in an interview with Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona president Joan Laporta said: “If all goes to plan with our goals, we won’t be forced to sell any player, I think they will continue.

“I hope that Atletico de Madrid will not put any objection to Joao Felix continuing with us and I think that City will not object [to Cancelo] either.

“We have an agent there who is working on the issue, Jorge Mendes, and he knows our intention to continue with the players. What I can’t tell you now, because it will depend a lot on the amounts, is whether we are going to sign them or extend the loan.

“It will surely be an extension of the transfer, already setting a price.”

The Portugal international made 154 appearances and won a number of trophies with Manchester City, including two Premier League titles.

Cancelo has made 32 appearances for Barcelona so far this season, including 24 La Liga showings and eight in the UEFA Champions League.