Barcelona will sign Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo before the transfer window close – but there’s an important caveat with both deals.
The Catalan outfit have long been linked with the Portuguese pair, but signing both players from Atletico Madrid and Manchester City seemed unlikely due to the club’s Financial Fair Play situation.
Felix and Cancelo, though, will join Barcelona on deadline day, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano. They will move to the Camp Nou on season-long loan deals, but there will be no option to buy included to ensure they keep in line with FFP.
Another wrinkle to the impending Cancelo deal is that, according to transfer reporter Toni Juanmarti, Man City requested that Barcelona send Eric Garcia, one of their former centre-backs, on loan to Girona, who are part of the City Football Group.
Arsenal had been linked with the Spaniard, who has been itching for gametime away from Barcelona, but a deal has reportedly been agreed to send him to Girona.
Cancelo’s move almost took a late twist with Bayern Munich entering the race on deadline day when it appeared that Barcelona may not be able to afford the deal. The German club took the full back on a six-month last term, but he reportedly turned down their approach.
Felix, who spent the second half of last season on loan with Chelsea, had been linked with Liverpool earlier this week as speculation over Mo Salah’s potential move to Saudi Arabia increased.
