After a long wait throughout the summer, Joao Cancelo was eventually able to make his way to FC Barcelona on the day that the transfer deadline passed. He did so by completing a loan agreement with Manchester City for the upcoming season.
Since the beginning of the year, the international Portuguese player, who is now 29 years old, has been on the mind of manager Xavi Hernandez; nevertheless, a transfer did not take place at that time.
In addition, there were occasions throughout the summer when there were concerns that the transaction might not be finalized. Cancelo did, in the end, make it to Barcelona, and he has already made a significant contribution there.
Adaptation that is flawless
It is hard to imagine that he has only been at Barca for three weeks given the way that he has already integrated himself into the team. It seems as though he has been there for much longer.
Cancelo discussed his move to Barcelona and how well he has adjusted to life at the club in an interview with Mundo Deportivo. Cancelo also commented on how well he has integrated with the team.
“My family and all of my friends know that I have wanted to play here for a long time, it is a club that has always excited me because my idols played here,” Cancelo said. “My family and all of my friends know that I have wanted to play here for a long time.”
“Now, I want to show people the player that I am; recently, I haven’t been performing as well as I wanted to, and I want to give my best to help this club get back to where it deserves to be,” he said. “Now is the time for me to show people the player that I am.”
“I’m very delighted to be here, and I’ve really enjoyed these three games. My teammates are assisting me in adjusting to the new environment as quickly as they can, which is very essential. “I’m playing with great players, which makes everything very easy for me,” he later added. “I’m playing with great players.”
The journey from Manchester City to Barcelona
Cancelo had a tremendously successful run at Manchester City, but he had a disagreement with Pep Guardiola, which resulted in him being loaned out to Bayern Munich in January and then being transferred to Barcelona.
Cancelo gave the following response when he was asked if he ever had the thought that it was unsafe to leave City for Barca: “Yes, it’s risky, but my life has always been a risk.” I am the type of person that enjoys taking chances.
Coming here was a risk, certainly; nevertheless, it’s Barcelona, and when you receive the opportunity from Barca, you have to come. In my opinion, they are now the finest team in the world.
During this period, he continued by expressing his gratitude to Guardiola, his coaching staff, and everyone else at Manchester City, saying:
“I need to thank everyone at City. I’ve had the best moments of my career there so far. I got the opportunity to be in last year’s FIFA World XI, which was another dream come true for me. I’ve had the best moments of my career there. You can see that we are a really excellent group that works well together owing to the leadership of our coach, Pep, as well as the rest of his staff. I owe that to my teammates at City.
We are off to an excellent beginning. (Image by JOSEP LAGO/AFP and made available by Getty Images))
Cancelo stated that he was unaware of any such move, adding that he was asked about the aforementioned attempt by Xavi to sign him in the month of January.
“That conversation was a bit confusing, and I don’t know if it’s true if Barcelona wanted me in January because it didn’t reach me, but well, Barcelona is a club I’ve always wanted to be at, and it’s the club of my dreams after having played for my childhood team, which was Benfica.” “That conversation was a bit confusing, and I don’t know if it’s true if Barca wanted me in January because it didn’t reach me.”
The goals, as well as the prospects
In the same way that there is no buy option in Joao Felix’s loan arrangement, there is also none in Joao Cancelo’s loan deal. The right back was questioned about his future beyond the 30th of June in 2024, which is when his time at Barcelona will come to an end.
“I would like to give a performance here first. It is not because of these two games, in which the entire team performed exceptionally well and won both games by large margins. “First to perform, to win titles with this club, and to be an important player in the team,” he added. “Then we can talk about whether I should stay or not.”
“That will be determined by the club and how well I play,” you said. In the end, they evaluate you based on your performance, and if you can’t live up to their expectations, they won’t keep you around. If you can prove yourself, they will want to hire you. Therefore, I want to be able to perform, contribute, and have fun at this club.
Cancelo responded that he wants to win La Liga and continue the trend of winning the league title in every nation in which he has played, while he also wants to do well in the UEFA Champions League. When asked what would make him satisfied at the end of the season, Cancelo underlined that he wants to win La Liga and continue the trend of winning the league title in every country in which he has played.
“I want to be ambitious, but not that ambitious; I want to take it one game at a time,” she said. “I want to be ambitious.” I have won the league in every country I’ve been in Europe outside Spain, and my goal is to win it there as well. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to competing in the Champions League,” he said.
“I think it’s possible with this team, but I want to take it step by step because football is a very strange sport, because there are times when you’re doing well and then you lose the game,” he said. “However, I’m very excited about winning titles with this club.”
Cancelo, who plays for both his club and his country, was asked about his club and international teammate Joao Felix, who also joined Barcelona on loan on the final day before the deadline in the summer.
“Joao Felix is blessed with an innate ability. It seems like players of that caliber don’t come out very often, particularly in Portugal. Cancelo believes that the player is currently on the perfect team to help him realize his goals and realize his potential. “He is a talent that needs to be polished,” Cancelo remarked.
“He is one more to help us, and he has the same ambition as I do, which is to win titles and help the team get as close to the top as he can,” I said. “He is one more to help us.”