Barcelona director Deco remains coy on the club’s pursuit of Portuguese duo

FC Barcelona’s sporting director Deco started the week at the Ciutat Esportiva and while signing shirts during a fan interaction, he came up with a cheeky response after being asked about the Blaugrana’s chase of Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo.

While on his way to the Ciutat Esportiva, a fan asked Deco: “Busy week or not? Cancelo and Joao Félix? Both of them? Are you waiting for Joao?”

“Which Joao? There are many ‘Joaos’ in Portugal,” responded the former midfielder cheekily as quoted by SPORT.

Barcelona are said to be on the verge of signing Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo. The deal is supposed to be a one-year loan with an option to buy.

Felix, on the other hand, has admitted to be keen on joining the Blaugrana, but the La Liga champions are still undecided on his transfer.

What are the roadblocks?

As far as Cancelo is concerned, we have reported before that his signing could go right until the end of the transfer window.

That is because the operation has still not been cleared due to Financial Fair Play checks. But the matter will likely be addressed this week.

The Catalan giants are scheduled to receive a €40 million payment from German investors Libero for the Barça Vision deal that was completed earlier this month and it will allow them to sign and register players.

As soon as it is done, Barcelona can finalise Cancelo’s acquisition and make it official.

Management divided over Felix

As far as Felix is concerned, It is no secret that the Barcelona coaching staff and management are largely divided over his acquisition from Atletico Madrid.

As of today, the player has offers from Saudi Arabia, but he continues to wait for Barcelona. But with the transfer window coming to an end, the Portuguese forward needs to make a decision and as reported before, he could accept a move to the Middle East.

As things stand, Cancelo’s signing is certain to happen. The operation to sign Felix, however, remains dicey, although recent reports had suggested that Xavi had given his OK for the move.