Barcelona Sign Portuguese Pair On Loan Deals

Barcelona signed two Portugal internationals on loan on transfer deadline day. Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo joined from Atletico Madrid and Manchester City.
Barcelona Sign Portuguese Pair On Loan Deals
Barcelona Sign Portuguese Pair On Loan Deals /

Barcelona signed two Portugal internationals on season-long loan deals on transfer deadline day.

Forward Joao Felix and full-back Joao Cancelo joined the Spanish champions from Atletico Madrid and Manchester City respectively.

Both loan deals will run until June 2024 and neither includes an option to buy.

Portugal players Joao Felix (left) and Joao Cancelo pictured during the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Joao Felix (left) and Joao Cancelo (right) both joined Barcelona on loan on Friday :: IMAGO/Ulmer/Teamfoto

Felix, 23, recently admitted that moving to Barcelona "was always my dream since I was a kid".

He spent the second half of last season on loan at Chelsea, scoring four goals in 20 games.

Cancelo, 29, has not played for City since January. He was loaned out to Bayern Munich later that month and made 21 appearances for the German giants.

Felix cost Atletico £113m in August 2019 when he arrived from Benfica, while City paid Juventus £60m for Cancelo in the same summer.

Cancelo has been capped 44 times by Portugal at senior international level, while Felix has represented his country in 31 matches.

Both were part of the Portugal team that won the inaugural edition of the UEFA Nations League in 2019. 

Barcelona's two deadline day signings arrived late on Friday, after Ansu Fati had been loaned out to Premier League side Brighton.

Cancelo will wear the no.2 jersey this season, while Felix has taken no.14 as his squad number.


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Robert Summerscales
ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.