Barcelona are set to sign João Cancelo for a third time after the full-back agreed to terminate his contract with Al Hilal, a source confirmed to ESPN.
Cancelo, 32, will join as a free agent having previously spent two loan spells with the Spanish champions, in 2023-24 and again last season.
The Portugal international will become Barça’s fourth signing of the summer after the arrivals of Anthony Gordon, Karim Adeyemi and Jesse Bisiwu.
However, he is unlikely to be the last, with Barça still pursuing a deal for Manchester City midfielder Rodri, Atlético Madrid striker Julián Álvarez — or another No.9 — and potentially a centre-back, too.
Speaking after Sunday’s 5-2 win friendly victory over Basel, coach Hansi Flick confirmed there could still be more arrivals.
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“We will see what happens, but it could be that we are still lacking something,” the German coach said.
Cancelo spent the second half of last season on loan at Barça and had made it clear he wanted to return to Spotify Camp Nou permanently.
That became a possibility over the weekend when he agreed to an early contract termination with Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal, who he had played for since 2024.
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It will be the third time that he has signed for Barça, albeit the first time as a permanent signing.
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After coming through the ranks at Benfica, Cancelo went on to play for Valencia, Inter Milan and Juventus before joining Manchester City in 2019.
Following a loan spell with Bayern Munich in 2023, he joined Barça for the 2023-24 season before moving to Al Hilal.
He returned to Barça for a second time last January, helping the club win the LaLiga title as he became the first player this century to win four of Europe‘s top five leagues.
In addition to the Spanish top flight, he has also won the leagues in England, Italy and Germany, as well as the Primeira Liga in Portugal.
