Manchester City full-back Joao Cancelo could be on his way out of the Etihad Stadium, with Al Hilal reportedly making a bid for the Portuguese defender.
Cancelo returned to Manchester City after his loan spell at Barcelona ended last season. Although Barcelona’s president Joan Laporta expressed interest in a second loan in March, the Catalan club has focused on other transfer priorities and did not pursue it further.
Despite Pep Guardiola’s recent statement that no inquiries had been received for Cancelo, Fabrizio Romano now reports a “formal bid” from Saudi Pro League champions Al Hilal. Negotiations between Al Hilal, Manchester City, and Cancelo’s representatives are underway.
If the deal goes through, Cancelo would reunite with Jorge Jesus, his former coach at Benfica, who is reportedly keen on him.
Cancelo has been training with City’s squad since returning from his summer break and the Euro 2024 tournament. However, he has not featured in the club’s first two games of the season.
Guardiola has not ruled out the possibility of Cancelo staying with City but indicated that a transfer could be the preferred outcome. “He’s training with us,” Guardiola said. “We’ll see what happens. Maybe he will stay, maybe he will go on loan. It depends on his agents and the club.”
Cancelo, who signed a long-term contract with City in 2022, established himself as one of the Premier League’s top full-backs, contributing to City’s successive title wins in 2020/21 and 2021/22. However, he fell out of favor midway through the following season, leading to a loan move to Bayern Munich in January 2023.
