Barcelona seal deal for 31-year-old defender to return to club

Barcelona have wrapped up a deal to bring Joao Cancelo back to the club 18 months after leaving, pending official confirmation. He will arrive on loan from Al-Hilal, where he has been plying his trade in Saudi Arabia.

The 31-year-old spent a year on loan at Barcelona during the 2023-24 season, and returned to Manchester City. That summer it was believed that he was keen on a return to the Blaugrana, but with finances tight, the Catalan giants pursued other options, and Cancelo made a €25m move to Al-Hilal. MD and Matteo Moretto amongst a number of outlets have confirmed that an agreement between all three parties has been reached.

João Cancelo al Barça está cerrado.

Negociación cerrada. Cesión del lateral portugués hasta final de temporada.

El club azulgrana cubrirá 5 millones de la ficha del jugador, que es lo que liberará la baja de la lesión de Christensen. pic.twitter.com/fRU2Gb3sEM

— Matteo Moretto (@MatteMoretto) January 5, 2026

Barcelona to use up salary limit space on Cancelo deal

The Blaugrana were hoping to bring in reinforcements in the January transfer window, after Andreas Christensen was ruled out until April. La Liga rules permit clubs suffering a long-term injury to use 80% of the salary limit space taken up by the injured player to register a new signing. Moretto says that this roughly amounts to €5m, and all of it will be used to cover two thirds of Cancelo’s €7.5m salary for the second half of the season. He will be available after Barcelona return from Spanish Supercup action in Saudi Arabia.

Barcelona’s options in defence

As a result, it means Cancelo will very likely be the only reinforcement that Hansi Flick receives. Initially against the idea of signing Cancelo, preferring instead a central defender, it seems Flick has given the green light for the deal eventually.

Ronald Araújo is traveling with the squad to Saudi Arabia for the Spanish Super Cup. It remains to be seen whether he's going to play or not. [@RogerTorello ] pic.twitter.com/9XSYO4Jhpl

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) January 5, 2026

The move means Flick will have extra cover for Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde at full-back. Kounde could potentially be used in central defence, while Eric Garcia is another option to drop back from midfield. Gerard Martin, Pau Cubarsi and Ronald Araujo will be favourites for the two spots in the second half of the season though.

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