Manchester City reduce asking price on 154-appearance defender by over €50 million in desperate plea to sell this summer

Officials at Manchester City have further intensified their plea to potential suitors over a sale of Joao Cancelo this summer through a staggering reduction in asking price.

The Portugal international has finally concluded his 2023/24 campaign following his nation’s exit from the European Championships at the hands of France, coming into the tournament off the back of a loan at FC Barcelona.

It was the second successive temporary move away from Manchester City for Cancelo having been first excluded from Pep Guardiola’s first-team plans in January 2023, initially joining Bayern Munich on a six-month agreement.

The German champions had the option to take Cancelo permanently upon the culmination of their loan, but turned down the opportunity to approve their option to buy set at a valuation of €70 million.

And now Manchester City are scrambling to find a permanent suitor this summer, but have dramatically reduced their expectations on the transfer fee front, eyeing a figure in excess of €50 million less than the fee of 2023.

According to the information of Spanish newspaper Sport, as translated and relayed by Sport Witness, Manchester City are trying to accelerate Joao Cancelo’s departure this summer in order to avoid him being a part of their pre-season schedule and tour of the United States.

It is claimed that the Premier League champions have now offered the player to several teams and have now even gone as far as to lower their asking price demands once again, having started the summer at €30 million and now open to a deal at less than €20 million.

Unfortunately for Manchester City, Cancelo’s desired option in FC Barcelona are yet to bite, even at the new reduced fee, with the La Liga club insisting that they are only interested in a loan deal with a non-obligatory purchase option.

That has obviously opened the door to other clubs this summer, and Serie A’s Juventus have ‘gone all in’ for him, hoping to convince the player and Manchester City into a deal but also wanting a loan agreement for their former player.

City are scheduled to return to the City Football Academy from Monday 15 July to begin their pre-season preparations ahead of their tour of the United States later this month, with members of the squad making a staggered return based on their international commitments.

Upon landing Stateside, Manchester City are scheduled to embark on a four-match tour of the east coast, taking on a number of Europe’s most prominent clubs including Barcelona and Chelsea, at iconic locations including New York City’s Yankee Stadium.

It remains to be seen whether Pep Guardiola will have any new faces at his disposal come the start of the USA tour, with transfer activity in the way of arrivals into the Etihad Stadium few and far between, with the exception of Brazilian international winger Savio.