Barcelona submit surprise loan offer for defender targeted by Inter

Barcelona have acknowledged publicly that they are on the hunt for a defender, and it appears they have settled on their target. Despite initial reports that the club internally were not aligned on a move for Joao Cancelo, the Blaugrana appear to be trying to bring the Portuguese full-back in for a second spell.

Cancelo is keen to leave Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia after 18 months, and has been in talks over a loan move. Barcelona and Juventus had enquired about Cancelo, but it was Inter who had moved ahead with negotiations for Cancelo. Al-Hilal are requiring 50% of his €15m per annum salary to be covered, which amounts to €3.75m for the second half of the season. Reports from the Catalan capital had declared that internally Barcelona were split on making a bid for the 31-year-old.

Barcelona submit loan offer for Cancelo

According to Fabrizio Romano, Barcelona have now made a bid for Cancelo though. Their offer only covers a ‘small part’ of his salary, but talks are set to coninue. Al-Hilal do have a deal agreed with Inter for Cancelo to return to Serie A, but the ex-Manchester City man is keen to exhaust any options he has to head back to Camp Nou.

EXCLUSIVE: Barcelona send initial official bid to Al Hilal for João Cancelo.

Loan proposal with small part of salary covered, negotiations ongoing.

Inter have deal verbally agreed with Al Hilal for Cancelo since last week… but player’s waiting for Barça. pic.twitter.com/T20fWPd1S8

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 5, 2026

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