Arsenal still interested in signing Man City ace Joao Cancelo

Arsenal could beat Barcelona to the signing of Manchester City full-back Joao Cancelo during the summer transfer window, according to Sport.

The north London giants are currently well equipped in the full-back departments, but they continue to be linked with a possible move for Cancelo.

Sport (page 8) claim that Barcelona are interested in re-signing Cancelo following his season-long loan.

However, they can only afford another loan deal with an option to buy for around €25 million.

Meanwhile, City believe they could secure nearly double the price from other suitors and it is mentioned that Arsenal are still keen on signing Cancelo.

Arsenal unlikely to land Cancelo this summer

The Gunners were interested in signing the Portugal international last summer, but the Cityzens were reluctant to negotiate with a direct title rival.

Having bolstered the Gunners squad with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus in 2022, they had no plans of doing the same with a deal for Cancelo.

This paved the way for the former Inter Milan to move to Barcelona, where he has been a huge hit with four goals and four assists from 33 appearances.

Arsenal are being linked with him again, but we don’t see a deal happening. City are unlikely to change their stance on not doing business with Arsenal.

The other point is that the Gunners hierarchy are unlikely to pay €45-50m for Cancelo, who will turn 30 in May and may not be in his prime for much long.

Cancelo, who was described as ‘world-class‘ by Julian Nageslmann, has also spoken about his desire to return to Barcelona, and he could force the Cityzens into negotiating another loan.

In our view, this is pure speculation and a summer deal is unlikely on the cards.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com