Manchester City and Barcelona €15m apart in valuation for 29-year-old superstar - reports

Manchester City and Barcelona are reportedly in talks to decide the future of Joao Cancelo this month.

But according to journalist Pedro Almeida, they are yet to reach an agreement over the player's valuation. Manchester City apparently want a €45 million obligation-to-buy clause inserted into his contract while Barcelona want that figure to be around €30 million.

The Catalan giants and the Cityzens have apparently reached an agreement over a one-year initial loan deal. However, the negotiations cannot proceed further unless the two clubs reach an agreement over the fee Barca will have to pay to sign him next summer.

Cancelo's future at the Etihad has been the subject of intense speculation ever since he was allowed to join Bayern Munich on a six-month loan deal in January. He fell out of favor with Pep Guardiola and it seems he hasn't managed to claw his way up the pecking order since.

Despite recent reports claiming Cancelo could stay at the Etihad, he was left out of the matchday squad in City's 3-0 league win over Burnley on 12 August. Barcelona are also desperate to sign a new first-team right-back.

Sergino Dest and Julian Araujo have evidently failed to convince Xavi Hernandez that they can be first-team regulars. The Spanish tactician opted to start Ronald Araujo in that position in his team's 0-0 La Liga draw against Getafe on 13 August.

Cancelo, 29, has registered nine goals and 22 assists in 154 games for Manchester City since signing from Juventus in 2019 for €65 million.

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Prominent journalist gave verdict on Barcelona target's situation at Manchester City

Renowned Portuguese journalist Manuel Pereira conducted an interview with Sport1 in March (h/t BavarianFootballWorks), where he talked about the player's situation at Manchester City.

Pereira opined that Cancelo still carries the weight of his mother's demise with him, both on and off the pitch. The Portuguese full-back lost his mother at the age of 18 in a motor car accident while he was still inside the car.

The journalist said in the interview:

"Joao still carries his mother’s death around with him to this day. That will always accompany him. He feels punished by life. He was still very young back then (when his mother passed), but you could tell that his pride was hurt and he felt unfairly treated when he wasn’t playing. That hasn’t changed over the years."

Cancelo made his debut for SL Benfica's senior team a year later. He has now been capped 44 times by Portugal and has won every trophy at club level barring the UEFA Champions League.

Before his loan move to Bayern, he featured in all but one of Manchester City's first 18 league games that season.