The management of Barcelona reached an agreement with its counterpart at Al-Hilal for the permanent transfer of Portuguese right-back João Cancelo to the Catalan club for a fee of up to 10 million euros, according to Spanish radio station Cadena COPE on Wednesday. The Spanish station confirmed that the signing of the official papers for the transfer of Cancelo, who was on loan from Al-Hilal to Barcelona from January to June last, will take place in the coming days. This comes at the request of German Hansi Flick, Barcelona's coach, who considers Cancelo's continuation important for the team in the upcoming season. Cancelo is scheduled to join Barcelona's camp in England in preparation for the new season, after his vacation following his country's exit from the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup. Cancelo joined Al-Hilal in the summer of 2024 from Manchester City on a contract until June 30, 2027, and played 45 matches in various competitions, scoring 3 goals and providing 14 assists, before being loaned to Barcelona in the second half of last season, where he played 23 matches, scoring 2 goals and providing 3 assists.