Joao Cancelo's Transfer Saga: Barcelona's Push for Permanent Deal

Joao Cancelo is training in Saudi Arabia. His head and heart are somewhere else entirely.

The Portuguese full-back reported for duty with Al-Hilal last Friday, obliged to join up while Barcelona and the Saudi club haggle over the final details of a permanent transfer back to Catalonia. The deal is not done yet, but inside both camps there is little doubt about where this is heading.

Barcelona push to close third Cancelo spell

According to Spanish outlet Marca, Barcelona are “fully confident” of securing Cancelo’s return to the Spotify Camp Nou on a permanent basis. Talks with Al-Hilal have dragged on for weeks, and the agreement is described as virtually complete.

What remains is not about sporting doubts or last-minute second thoughts, but paperwork. A few tax-related details are holding things up, stretching a saga that both club and player expected to be wrapped up by now. Those issues are described as procedural rather than decisive: an obstacle to timing, not to the transfer itself.

Inside Barcelona, the plan is clear. The board is working to bring Cancelo back for a third spell, this time as a fully owned player rather than a short-term fix. He first arrived on loan from Manchester City in 2023-2024, then returned on loan again from Al-Hilal in 2025-2026. Now the intention is to make him part of the long-term core under Hansi Flick.

Torn between contract and conviction

The delay has left Cancelo in an awkward limbo. Officially, he belongs to Al-Hilal. Emotionally, he has never really left Barcelona.

The 32-year-old was forced to join Al-Hilal’s training sessions last Friday despite making it clear behind the scenes that he wanted his future resolved before pre-season. Contractually, he had no choice. Professionally, he has reported and trained. But every signal he has sent in recent days points back to Catalonia.

In private conversations and public gestures, Cancelo has repeated the same message: he wants to play for Flick, in Barcelona, in the dressing room he describes as a family. Those close to the negotiations insist his stance has not wavered once during the talks.

He underlined that again on social media, posting a photo of himself celebrating a goal in a Barcelona shirt. No long caption, no ambiguity. Just a visual reminder of where he believes he belongs and where he wants to continue his career.

Club and player aligned

Inside Barcelona, that commitment has not gone unnoticed. Club officials have backed his position and welcomed the way he has handled the uncertainty, praising both his insistence on returning and his willingness to wait out the final stages of the deal.

For the Catalan hierarchy, Cancelo offers something rare: a proven, versatile full-back who already knows the club, the stadium, and the demands that come with the shirt. For Cancelo, Barcelona offers something just as valuable at this stage of his career: a sense of home.

So he trains in Saudi Arabia while his future is negotiated in meeting rooms thousands of kilometres away. The contract says Al-Hilal for now. Every other sign points to Barcelona, and to a third chapter at the Spotify Camp Nou that both sides expect to begin this week.