Man City insisted on bizarre Joao Cancelo clause to be met for Barcelona deal to be completed

Manchester City are insisting that Barcelona must meet a bizarre clause if they want to sign Joao Cancelo.

Portugal international Cancelo is reportedly close to completing a loan move to Barcelona that is likely to signal his full departure from Manchester City.

According to the Guardian, the full-back’s move to the Catalan giants contains an option to buy the player on a permanent basis, with the fee expected to be in the region of €25million (£21million).

The initial departure will be Cancelo’s second loan spell in the past seven months, after the 29-year-old joined Bayern at the end of the January window.

At the time his City departure came as a shock, given his influence in City’s side during the club’s 2021/22 title triumph.

It has been claimed that Pep Guardiola sanctioned the initial move, due to Cancelo’s reaction to being afforded decreased game time at City. Of course, the decision did not hinder City as the Premier League outfit went on to win a historic treble.

But according to Spanish journalists Nil Solà and Toni Juanmartí, via City_Xtra, City will only sanction Cancelo’s move to Barcelona provided the Catalan giants allow Eric Garcia to go on loan to Girona.

Of course, Girona is City’s sister club, which could suggest Pep Guardiola may be interested in resigning Garcia at some point in the future.

Garcia, who played for City for a short period, has struggled for game time upon his return to the Camp Nou, falling behind Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, and Jules Kounde in the pecking order.

Xavi reportedly wanted to keep hold of the 22-year-old, but the centre-back is keen on a loan to get minutes under his belt.

Bayern declined the option to sign Cancelo permanently, and it was subsequently suggested that Arsenal may look to sign the player this summer.

That move has not transpired, and after Cancelo featured in pre-season, there was the suggestion he could resurrect his career at the Etihad.

But that has not proven to be the case, with the player set to move to the Camp Nou.

Topics: Football, Transfers, Premier League, Joao Cancelo, Manchester City, Barcelona, La Liga, Eric Garcia, Girona

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.