Barcelona make contact with Valencia as they plot Cancelo move
Joao Cancelo is one of the names sounded out by Barcelona to strengthen the right-back position this summer. The club have already asked Valencia about his situation and are waiting to find out more.
Barça will not make a definitive move until Dani Alves' exit is officially confirmed. The Brazilian is due to sign for Juventus imminently. The reports on Cancelo are good, he has experience in La Liga and his progression makes him an interesting option.
The club's priority is to sign a central defender, but Alves' departure has opened up space for a right full-back as well. Aleix Vidal has not had many minutes under Luis Enrique and Sergi Roberto is not a specialist in the position.
Cancelo is on the market and is excellent going forward. Valencia signed him for 15 million euros, so his price is expected to be around 20 million euros. But the operation could end up being much more affordable than that because Los Che would like Alen Halilovic and Cristian Tello. The relationship between the two clubs is good and that could help any potential business.
Fitness problems have prevented Cancelo being at 100 percent for Valencia, but he is a player with a huge future. He is 22 and his style is very similar to that of Alves.
Barça are looking at other players, like Serge Aurier and Bruno Peres, too. And they've even looked at the Croatian Sime Vrsaljko, who plays for Sassuolo, but is expected to sign for Atletico Madrid. It remains to be seen how quickly Barça will look to move once Alves' move is confirmed.
