Barcelona will ‘investigate’ into Man City defender’s mentality, behaviour before acting on interest

Recent reports coming out of Spain are suggesting that Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo, who is currently on loan at Bayern Munich, has emerged as a serious option for Barcelona for the summer.

The 28-year-old had been on the Catalans’ radar in the winter, but Financial Fair Play problems meant that a move could not go through. Eventually, he signed for Bayern on loan until the end of the season with an option to make the transfer permanent for €70 million.

However, recent events suggest that the Bavarian giants will not be taking up the option and Cancelo will be returning to Manchester City where he has fallen out with Pep Guardiola and would thus again be on the move next season.

And it has been claimed that the Premier League champions would be open to loaning him out again, with Barcelona lurking to make a swoop.

But, according to Albert Masnou of SPORT, the Blaugrana will investigate Cancelo’s mentality and behaviour before they act on their interest in the Portuguese international.

The Catalans see a move for him as a great opportunity as it would not involve a signficant outlay if the right-back would come in on a loan deal.

However, at the same time, there are some apprehensions over his mentality and character, after all, it cannot be ignored that first Man City and now Bayern Munich do not want to keep hold of the defender, who is one of the best in his position in Europe.

There are no doubts about the former Valencia ace’s sporting abilities. But given the club’s precarious situation, they cannot make any mistakes in the market. Thus, Barcelona want to look into Cancelo more closely before making a definitive move for him.

It is not something new for the Blaugrana as they had requested extensive reports on Andreas Christensen from the Danish FA before signing him last summer. And the club’s good relationship with Man City could help them get a deeper insight into Cancelo’s situation.

Once they are certain that the right-back has the mentality needed to succeed at Camp Nou, the La Liga leaders would look to initiate talks, which will not be easy by any means.

For starters, Man City will ideally look to sell him permanently for a big sum. At the same time, Cancelo’s wages are not small either. So, it will take some major convincing from Barcelona’s part to get all parties on the same page.