Barcelona were unable to sign Manchester City defender in January due to FFP rules

Barcelona had a busy January transfer window despite not being able to sign any player of note. The Blaugrana allowed Memphis Depay to move to Atletico Madrid while Hector Bellerin joined Sporting CP on transfer deadline day.

However, according to The Athletic, one player that was offered to Barcelona was Joao Cancelo. The Manchester City full-back was given to Barça as a direct replacement for Bellerin, who was the only option at right-back at the time.

It would have been quite an upgrade for Barcelona as Cancelo was considered as one of the best fullbacks in the world not very while ago. But his progress halted at Manchester City after the World Cup, as he failed to nail down a regular role in the starting eleven.

The Portuguese international ultimately had a falling out at the Etihad, which led to his exit during the January transfer window.

Barcelona were among the clubs who were offered the chance to sign the former Juventus starlet. But the Catalans had to pass on the opportunity as they were not in a position to afford the player due to the Financial Fair Play regulations.

The FFP rules in Spain have indeed caused a myriad of problems for Barcelona in recent times. During the January window, for example, the club were only allowed to shell out a figure of €3 million over the course of a six-month period, even after sanctioning the exit of Depay.

That meant Barcelona could only sign a player on loan. But the club did not even have the option to include a mandatory purchase option in the deal. It was a key reason behind the club not being able to sign Morocco international Sofyan Amrabat.

Similarly, Barcleona could not sign Cancelo either, with the Portuguese international ultimately joining Bayern Munich on a loan deal with a €70 million purchase option.