Joao Cancelo is returning to Europe – his next stop is his former club

Trapped by financial fair play, Barcelona won’t have the resources to complete the long-rumored transfer of Joao Cancelo, a situation Inter is now trying to exploit in the early days of the new year to land the attacking full-back from the sidelines.

Cristian Chivu needs a high-profile player in that position; the Romanian coach attempted to cover for Denzel Dumfries’ injury with Luis Enrique along the right flank, but it didn’t work out well, sending a clear signal to Beppe Marotta and Piero Ausilio that they must go to the market.

Ever since it was first reported that Cancelo would no longer play for Al Hilal due to a fallout with Simone Inzaghi—the former Inter coach even removed him from the registered players list for the Pro League—Nerazzurri have been in the picture.

However, Cancelo’s agent Jorge Mendes has mostly focused attention on Nou Camp. Meanwhile, the Catalans have made no effort to secure the funds to sign the expensive Portuguese, while the Italians, riding the wave of good relations with the Saudi giants (Inter raised no issues when Inzaghi left for Riyadh last spring), reportedly managed to negotiate that Al Hilal would continue paying the larger portion of Cancelo’s massive salary. What that specifically means…

According to Milan’s Gazzetta dello Sport, for a six-month loan, Inter would need to pay 3 milion euros net of Cancelo’s salary. The remaining 4 milion euros would be covered by Al Hilal. From this, it can be inferred that the 31-year-old earns 15 milion euros net per year?! For this reason, a permanent transfer is currently out of the question, as his contract runs until summer 2027.

It’s easy to assume the player has no intention of giving up the 15 milion euros he is owed for the final 12 months of his contract… Inter and Al Hilal are quickly finalizing the last details, so all that remains is for Cancelo to give the green light for the move. Let’s recall that he has already played for the Nerazzurri, having joined them on loan from Valencia back in 2017.

The Gazetta also notes that these negotiations could open the door for another deal between the two clubs. Simone Inzaghi reportedly wants veteran Francesco Acerbi (37). However, his move to the Middle East seems much more likely only in the summer…