As always, there are a ton of narratives churning in the transfer rumors mill. This gets especially amped up during the international breaks, when there is next to nothing to talk about. There is a ton of speculation surrounding FC Barcelona, as is usual, but when it comes to the Joao Cancelo and Ronald Araujo exit rumors, there really is no there there.
Both Barcelona defenders shot down the stories linking them with an exit from Catalonia. Both players want to stay.
FC Barcelona vs UD Las Palmas FYIs
Kickoff: Sat. March 30, 20:00 CET, Olympic Stadium, Barcelona, Spain
Barca Preview Material:ย Injury Listย ย Team News ย ย Starting XI Prediction
La Liga Standing, Form: UD Las Palmasย 11th, 37 pts,ย LLDDLย ย FC Barcelona 2nd,ย 64 pts, WWDWW
Google Result Probability:ย UD Las Palmasย 9%ย ย Drawย 15%ย ย FC Barcelona 76%
Let’s start with Araujo, who has been linked with the likes of Bayern Munich and Manchester United, among others.
“There has been a lot of talk about this, but Iโm happy at Barcelona,” Araujo told La Quinta Tribuna.
“Besides, we have to finish the season well because there are still challenges ahead, including the Copa America with Uruguay.”
The Uruguayan central defender will see his current contract expire in 2026.
As for Cancelo, he has made it quite clear in public, he wants to take the loan deal (from Manchester City) that he is currently on, and turn it into a permanent move to Barcelona.
As he said to A Bola:
โBarcelona is the dream for me. Thereโs no other club in Europe I dream to play for.โ
City definitely want to sell, but the two sides remain far apart on valuation. Barcelona reportedly opened negotiations with a โฌ20m bid as their cap. Man City went 10 million more Euros on top of that. Of course, for his part, Cancelo is doing everything he can to burn all his bridges in Manchester. More on that in the next post.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor ofย The Sports Bank.ย Heโs also theย author of โTransatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,โ andย โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.โ
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMGโs NFL Wire Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated,ย Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times.ย You can follow himย onย Twitter.
