Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has shared the club’s desire to sign a new defender during the January transfer window, but the available João Cancelo may not be his preferred choice.
Cancelo, who spent a season on loan with Barcelona in 2023–24 after mysteriously falling out of favor at Manchester City, has been in the Saudi Pro League with Al Hilal for almost 18 months.
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A report from MARCA suggests the Portuguese right back, equally adept on the opposite side of the pitch, is ready to return to Europe after becoming unhappy playing in Saudi Arabia. Christensen’s injury is potentially an opportunity, with Cancelo said to have offered himself to Barcelona.
If Barcelona submit Christensen’s medical report to La Liga—something they would need to do by Jan. 14—the club could sign someone new by using up to 80% of the Dane’s salary. A similar method was used to register Joan García during the summer when Marc-André ter Stegen had back surgery.
Cancelo is named by MARCA as “one of the options” under consideration by sporting director Deco, but the same story doesn’t paint Flick as being fully convinced by the idea.
Flick has already openly confirmed his wish for more defensive cover.
“We’re not ready right now, but if we look at our back line, I think we need one more player,” he told reporters. “But it’s not easy to bring in players in this [January] transfer window. We’ll have to see … I think we’ll do something, but it has to make sense.”
The question is whether Cancelo makes enough sense. The 31-year-old is not a straight replacement for Christensen, a center back. Signing Cancelo would strengthen at fullback, at least freeing up Jules Kounde to move into the middle, or consolidating Gerard Martín’s newer status as a center back.
The issue with Cancelo replacing Koundé at right back for the Frenchman to play centrally is that it requires more reshuffling compared to recruiting a specialist center back in the first place.
