BARCELONA.- He FC Barcelona announced this Thursday the signing of the Portuguese defender Joao Cancelo for the next three seasons.
“The full-back arrives with the letter of freedom and signs as a culé until June 30, 2029,” Barça said in a statement.
The Portuguese international terminated his contract with the Al Hilal Saudi to return to Camp Nou.
The 32-year-old player had already gone through two loan spells at Barça, one of them in the second half of last season, in which he helped the team Hansi Flick to revalidate the league title.
Before signing for Manchester City In 2019, Cancelo played in Portugal, Spain and Italy.
The defender was loaned by City to Bayern Munich and later to Barcelona in the 2023/24 season, before joining Al Hilal.
Cancelo is Barça’s fourth signing in this summer transfer market.
The Portuguese joins the arrivals of Rodri, Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemiwhile Barcelona continues to search for a forward after the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres.
Barça covets the Argentine forward Atlético de Madrid, Julian Alvarezbut the red and white club’s refusal to let the Argentine international leave could lead the Catalans to look in other directions.
Cancelo arrives to reinforce Barça a few days before the Barça club begins the defense of its league title on Sunday in Elche.
Álvarez would be “very involved” in Atleti
The Argentine defender Cristian ‘Cuti’ Romero He assured this Thursday that he sees his teammate and compatriot “very involved” and “wanting to continue scoring goals.” Julian Alvarezin his presentation as a new player of the Atlético de Madrid.
“Julián, I see him very well,” said Romero before the media after signing last Saturday with Atlético for the next five seasons from the Tottenham.
“I’ve been here for five or six days and I see him as always, a boy who wants to continue scoring goals, to continue making people entertain and I see him very involved,” added ‘Cuti’ Romero.
“That makes me very happy,” insisted the Argentine defender, whom the coach Diego Simeone booked Wednesday for Atlético’s league debut against Malaga.
