Cancelo battle is on: Barcelona respond to first Inter offer for 31-year-old

The battle is on for Joao Cancelo, as after Inter reached a verbal agreement with Al-Hilal, now Barcelona have reportedly made their first offer.

The winger has been effectively frozen out in the Saudi Pro League and is eager to move back to European football in the January transfer window.

His huge salary is a problem, so Sky Sport Italia reported Inter reached a verbal agreement to sign him in exchange for either Stefan de Vrij or Francesco Acerbi going the other way.

Cancelo prefers Barcelona to Inter

However, it was already clear that Cancelo would much prefer to join Barcelona and would stall on accepting until they made their move.

Now Fabrizio Romano and Gianluca Di Marzio claim Barcelona have indeed taken that step with their first formal offer to Al-Hilal, which would be a loan with only part of his wages covered.

The 31-year-old is seen by Inter as a temporary replacement for injured Denzel Dumfries, who recently had surgery to stabilise his ankle.

This would be a return to either club, as the Portugal international wore the Inter jersey in 2017-18, then was at Barcelona in 2023-24.

Manchester City sold him to Al-Hilal in the summer of 2024 for €25m.