Manchester City were reportedly fearful that the loan deal to take Joao Cancelo to Barcelona would not complete.
The 29-year-old is now a Barca player.
But the deal was not so straightforward in the end.
Everything had seemed on track for Cancelo to make his move to the Spanish giants.
But their financial issues took it much closer to the wire than anticipated.
And now, some more information has come out about the deal…
Manchester City thought Joao Cancelo loan deal would collapse
According to The Athletic today, City actually thought there was a chance Cancelo’s loan deal would collapse due to Barcelona’s financial issues.
And the publication states that there were even doubts for some people at City about the deal.
Cancelo had been in Lisbon ahead of making his move, with permission from the club.
On Monday, he had been due to fly to Barcelona.
“You need to return home,” he was told. “The deal is not done as Barcelona need more time.”
This apparently left Cancelo and his family in ‘disbelief’.
In the end, Barcelona got their finances in order after Joan Laporta reportedly secured a bank agreement to provide the club with an injection of cash.
The player only ended up flying to Barcelona on the Friday.
A relief the move came to fruition
It is a real relief that the deal got done in the end.
It would not have been a good situation had remained a City player beyond the deadline.
It is very clear he is not in the plans of Pep Guardiola.
The pair’s relationship is clearly no longer the same as it once was, and it was important for him to move on.
Ideally, Cancelo would have been sold.
But seemingly, suitable permanent offers were not forthcoming. And Cancelo is said to be on lucrative wages, which may have also been an issue for some clubs.
