Joao Cancelo is set to move to Saudi Arabia and he won't be the only Manchester City player to leave before the 2024 summer transfer window closes.
Cancelo has been on loan at Bayern Munich and then Barcelona for the past 18 months because of disagreements with Pep Guardiola. Although he really wanted to buy the Portuguese defender, financial difficulties hindered the Blaugrana. The La Liga team even let Ilkay Gundogan return to Etihad on a free transfer to balance the books.
Guardiola has stated that he will welcome Cancelo back to Man City if the move to the Saudi Pro League cannot be completed this week. The Portuguese player has trained with the first team but did not appear in the opening two Premier League matches. According to British media, this defender is not in Guardiola's long-term plans.
Cancelo is said to be in Paris to discuss joining Al Hilal, with a contract worth 21 million pounds. The former Juventus player will receive a huge salary of 13 million pounds a year at the new team. The 30-year-old also has the opportunity to become teammates with Ruben Neves and Neymar at Al Hilal.
Meanwhile, Man City's homepage confirmed that striker Kayky has joined Sparta Rotterdam on loan after recovering from injury. The Brazilian player spent the first half of the 2022-2023 season playing for Pacos de Ferreira in Portugal before returning to his hometown team Bahia.
This is the team that belongs to the same City Football Group ecosystem as Man City, where Kayky made 10 appearances in the Brazilian national championship. However, the 21-year-old winger suffered a serious injury and did not leave much of an impression.
Issa Kabore is another Citizens player who could leave this week, either on a long-term contract or on loan. A host of European teams - including Augsburg, Venezia, Stade de Reims and Werder Bremen - have expressed interest in Kabore.
Matheus Nunes is also likely to have to leave Etihad when Atletico Madrid is looking to borrow the Portuguese player. The midfielder failed to make an impression after joining from Wolves with a contract worth £54 million a year ago.
Meanwhile, Guardiola does not have high expectations about recruiting a striker to replace Julian Alvarez. Celtic's Kyogo Furuhashi and Copenhagen's Orri Oskarsson are considered Man City's top two targets.
Speaking to beIN Sports, Guardiola emphasized: "Erling Haaland cannot play every match. Oscar Bobb's absence is also a big, huge loss. But Phil Foden can play in that position. James McAtee can also play in that position. so, because he's really good in these spaces. And even Gundogan can play this role.
I don't know what will happen at the end of the transfer window, but I think we will continue in that direction."
