Manchester City full-back Joao Cancelo is currently on loan at Barcelona, who were always his preference despite AC Milan forward Rafael Leao trying to convince him to join him at the San Siro.
Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column, transfer news expert Fabrizio Romano discussed his chat with Leao as he revealed he tried to convince his fellow Portugal international to come to Milan.
This ultimately didn’t happen, with Cancelo instead moving on loan to Barca last summer, and Romano says the 29-year-old is keen to stay at the Nou Camp this summer.
It remains to be seen if a permanent transfer can be agreed, but it seems clear that that would be Cancelo’s preference, so it will now rest on the clubs to reach an agreement that suits all parties this summer.
Milan fans may be disappointed, but Romano also pointed out that the Rossoneri never had any contacts over this deal as they already had good options in that position, so it was more of a thing between the players than anything more concrete.
Cancelo transfer update from Romano’s latest column
“It was great to get the chance to speak to Rafael Leao about a number of topics, and it was interesting to hear that he tried to persuade Joao Cancelo to join him at AC Milan,” Romano said.
“‘I was talking with Joao Cancelo and he liked AC Milan… so I told Joao: ok, come to AC Milan!’ Leao said. ‘He was at Man City, I tried… but it was difficult. It was like the perfect match for him to join our new era.’
“The reason it didn’t happen is because Cancelo only wanted to play for Barcelona, but also it was never a club to club negotiation. Leao spoke to Cancelo, but Milan never spoke to City also because they already had two right-backs.
“For Cancelo it was only Barca and he still hopes to stay at the club next season after joining them on loan from Man City this term.”