What seemed to be inevitable finally came to pass as Barcelona completed a couple of additions as well as a departure.
Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix both arrived in Barcelona ahead of their much speculated moves. After some time waiting, their acquisitions have been made official.
🚨 Joao Cancelo + Joao Felix moves to Barcelona done. Cancelo joins from Man City while Felix moves from Atletico Madrid. Both straight season-long loan deal, no options to buy. W/ @polballus @GuillermoRai_ @TheAthleticFC #FCBarcelona #MCFC #AtleticoMadrid https://t.co/7fNlOfLM4m
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) September 1, 2023
Both Cancelo and Felix arrive on a simple loan with no option to buy. The latter also extended his contract with Atletico Madrid until 2028.
With Ansu Fati joining Brighton on loan and Ousmane Dembele leaving earlier in the summer to PSG, Barcelona were beginning to look a little bereft of options up front. In theory, Felix provides some depth.
In theory, that is, because he is far from the player he was at Benfica when he earned that massive move to Atletico Madrid.
Felix’s willingness to hold out for Barcelona proved key as the only other option was Saudi Arabia. After he publicly stated his dream was to play for the Catalan side, Atletico Madrid was virtually left with no other option.
The other Joao – Cancelo – fills a far more pressing need.
Barcelona have no actual right-back on the team and Cancelo fills that hole. The former Manchester City fullback was integral to Pep Guardiola until they had a falling out. He was loaned to Bayern Munich last season but didn’t feature as much as he would have liked thus Bayern did not exercise their buy option.
Cancelo also waited for Barcelona after a move had seemingly been wrapped up a while ago but with Financial Fair Play holding things up. Bayern Munich came back and tried to make an offer but Cancelo had his mind made up.
In addition to playing right-back he can also play left-back which should help Barcelona when Alejandro Balde is unavailable. Marcos Alonso serves that back-up role but is left wanting against higher-caliber opponents.
One of the conditions reportedly set by Manchester City involved Barcelona letting Eric Garcia leave on loan.
⚠️ Para que el City aceptara la cesión de Cancelo, la condición ha sido dar el OK al préstamo de Eric al Girona.
— Toni Juanmartí (@tjuanmarti) September 1, 2023
Especulaba @Nilsola10 con esa posibilidad y hemos confirmado que existe dicha petición. City Group, propietario de ambos clubes.
In the end, they did allow Garcia to join Girona on loan despite manager Xavi Hernandez counting on Garcia and wanting him to stay.
Acquiring a right-back was high on Barcelona’s priority list and letting Garcia, who would have been fourth or fifth choice at center-back, is a trade-off the club was willing to make.
Of the two Portuguese players, Cancelo was the more necessary given his position. Felix was more the final cherry atop the cake so to speak. Whether either of them make the move permanent will remain to be seen after the end of the season. As it stands, Cancelo would likely have the higher probability of sticking around.
Barring any last-minute moves, Barcelona’s summer transfer window comes to a close.