Manchester City have agreed to sell Portuguese full-back Joao Cancelo to Saudi Arabian champions Al Hilal, according to reports.
The Premier League champions paid around £60million to sign Cancelo from Juventus in August 2019.
The 30-year-old has made 154 appearances for providing 30 goal contributions and winning seven major trophies.
He was a crucial player in Pep Guardiola s XI up until December 2022, when the Spanish manager decided he didn t want to use him anymore.
There have been rumours of a bust-up between Cancelo and Guardiola, though both sides have refuted those claims and the player featuring in pre-season this and last year indicates that it is not true.
Cancelo s underwhelming performances on loan at Bayern Munich in the second half of 2022/23 and at Barcelona last season have justified Guardiola s decision to drop him.
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Another thing that has justified Guardiola s call a controversial one at the time is City s incredible success since, going on to win the Treble without Cancelo, while looking significantly stronger defensively.
The Citizens are very eager to sell Cancelo this summer, though the full-back is under contract until 2027 so there is not an incredible amount of pressure to get rid.
Man City: Cancelo had too many enemies at Barcelona, is off to Saudi Arabia
Regardless, it looks like the Portuguese international will be playing for Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia this season.
According to reports in Portugal, the Saudi Pro League outfit are very close to announcing the signing of Cancelo .
There is an agreement between the two clubs, with Al Hilal expected to pay 40 million euros (£34m) for the 30-year-old, who will pen a three-year contract worth 70 million euros (£59.4m).
The report adds that Cancelo wanted to stay at Barcelona after spending 23/24 on loan, but the La Liga giants did not have the financial capacity to acquire the pass .
Another report coming from out of Spain () claims that the player s apparent attitude problem could be why he fell out of favour under Guardiola.
As well as their financial situation, Barcelona were put off by Cancelo s behaviour and some previous performances , which caused doubts in Catalonia.
Particularly not impressed with him during Barcelona’s loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League , it is no surprise that the Blaugrana have not decided to spend their limited funds on Cancelo.
In regards to his behaviour , it is stated that how he acted did not go down well with a lot of players .
The report from Sport Witness states:
When he hasn’t started games, his attitude has irked major players in the dressing room, causing ‘discomfort’. His relationship with younger players is also questioned, perhaps with the insinuation he’s too harsh on them.
It’s mentioned Guardiola witnessed similar patterns at Manchester City and that is why he was moved on by the club.
He’s now back and endless reports have said he only wants a return to Barcelona. Interestingly, Sport say that despite this, Cancelo has no intention of lowering his wages.
Those wages are definitely not being lowered in the Middle East, pal.
A separate report from Spain adds that Cancelo s potential return to Barca has been complicated as the player has too many enemies in the dressing room .
