Joao Cancelo denied his dream squad number at Barcelona due to La Liga rules

Joao Cancelo has been denied his dream squad number at Barcelona due to La Liga’s rules.

The Portugal international is said to be close to completing a loan move to Barcelona, with his departure likely to spell the end of his Manchester City career.

As per the Guardian, Cancelo’s move to Barcelona includes an option to buy, with the fee said to be in the region of €25million (£21million).

The move will be Cancelo’s second loan spell of 2023, with the full-back having joined Bayern in the final hours of the January window.

But the Bundesliga giants declined the option to sign Cancelo permanently, and it was subsequently claimed that Arsenal may look to bring in the player from their title rivals.

That move never happened of course, with Cancelo now set to complete a transfer to the Camp Nou.

While Cancelo is said to be keen on the move to Barca, he will be unable to wear his favourite number 7 shirt for the Catalan outfit.

The defender donned the number 7 shirt at City to honour the memory of his mother, who was tragically killed in a car accident nine years ago.

He explained, via Footy Headlines: "Seven was my mum's favourite number and it was the day she was born: 7 February.

“I decided to pick that number because it is meaningful for me and for my mum. I hope I can represent her with this number as she is one of the most important people in my life."

At Bayern, Cancelo was unable to wear number 7, 17, 27 or 37 as other players were holding that number.

And he will be denied the opportunity to wear his favourite number once his Barca move is finalised. La Liga rules state that all first-teamers must wear a shirt number between 1 and 25.

And given Ferran Torres has taken over from Ousmane Dembele as the new No.7 and Marcos Alonso is No.17, Cancelo will be unable to don a 7 on his back.

Moreover, new signing Ilkay Gundogan is number 22, the shirt number Cancelo ended up wearing at Bayern during his loan spell there.