The Catalan newspaper El Nacional said that Joan Laporta will do it again and conclude two unexpected deals once and for all in the upcoming winter market in January, at a cost of approximately 55 million euros.
Barcelona occupies third place in the Spanish League standings behind Real Madrid and Girona, and succeeded in qualifying for the round of 16 of the Champions League after topping its group with one round before the end of this round.
President Joan Laporta seeks to strengthen the team despite the difficult financial situation the club is experiencing, and one of the most important files he seeks to resolve is the file of the duo Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo.
João Cancelo and João Félix only needed 3 months to convince Barça . Both Portuguese players have entered the Blaugrana club on a good foot, to the point that Barça is looking for the formula to close their signings in this same winter market, to prevent their value from increasing in the second stage of the season As reported by Mundo Deportivo , Barça will try, even if for this they have to add a footballer in the operation of João Félix, the more complicated of the two.
At first, the two Portuguese players, who landed in Barcelona in the last hours of the summer market after a marathon day of negotiations, arrived at Barça on loan until June 30, 2024, at which time that Deco and Joan Laporta should sit down to negotiate with Manchester City and Atlético de Madrid , respectively, to agree a new path, outside of another assignment or a transfer.
The player who has convinced the most of the two is João Cancelo, who has signed a spectacular start to the season, with authentic displays, such as those he signed against Betis, in the comeback against Celta or in last Tuesday’s game against Porto . The Portuguese is a real dagger, either playing as a right-back or as a left-back, in addition to giving Xavi Hernández many variants , who has also placed him in the center of the field, taking advantage of the player’s ability ‘act as interior.
To all this we must add that Manchester City does not have the player, who ended up enmity with Pep Guardiola . The Catalan coach had a tug-of-war with the defender, who did not like being a substitute in some games, which led to him demanding his departure. As reported by Mundo Deportivo , Manchester City expects to get 25 million euros for João Cancelo, but Barça is planning to offer 15, taking into account the high fee for the player that Manchester City would end up saving.
More complicated is the case of João Félix, since Atlético de Madrid intends to transfer the Portuguese for a total of 80 million euros , a figure that is totally unattainable for Barça. The Madrid club would also prefer the player to go to another championship, to prevent a direct rival like Barça from being strengthened. In the Barcelona club they will try and have the plan to put 40 million euros on the table, a figure that they consider more than fair, taking into account Félix’s high salary.
In any case, Barça also contemplate the possibility of convincing Atlético de Madrid by adding in the operation some player who does not enter into the plans of Xavi Hernández, or of Barça Atlético, as long as they manage to convince Enrique Cerezo with this decision. It should not be forgotten that Simeone does not have Joao Félix and that Atlético might not receive big offers in the summer if the player does not sign a good second half of the season.
Source: El Nacional