João Felix and João Cancelo are out of contract at Barcelona, and will return to their original clubs Atletico Madrid and Manchester City, respectively. It remains to be seen if Barcelona will sign them.
'João Felix and João Cancelo will not continue with Barcelona,' Barcelona announced on its official website on Tuesday.
"The loan contracts of the two Portuguese players have been terminated. Both players will return to their respective clubs. Barcelona wants to put on record its gratitude for their commitment and wishes them all the best for the future and every success in their endeavors. The club also announced that Marcos Alonso, who will join Kancelu and Felix at the end of their loan spells, is also leaving the club at the end of his contract.
The situation of Kancelu and Felix Luis is unknown after the end of their loan spells with Barcelona. Both players have consistently wanted to stay at Barcelona since joining the club last summer, instead of returning to their original clubs.
In the case of Kancelu, he fell out with Pep Guardiola after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, following a downward spell at City. After joining Barcelona on loan from Bayern Munich, Kancelu made no secret of his desire to stay, emphasizing the importance of proving his worth to the club. He scored four goals in 42 appearances, playing both right and left fullback.
Felix was not much different. After an ambiguous spell at Atletico, where he failed to rebound despite a loan spell at Chelsea, Felix went on a full-blown falling out with the club last summer, even making a public statement that he wanted to move to Barcelona. He later re-signed with Atletico and joined Barcelona on loan, and despite not having an official transfer option, Felix continued to express his love for the club and his desire to join them.
However, negotiations between Barcelona and their original clubs were unsuccessful and both players returned to their respective clubs at the end of their loan deals.
It's unclear if Barcelona will really try to bring them back after the end of this contract. Barcelona have publicly stated that they want both players, but with their financial problems, it's unlikely that they'll be able to splash the cash on Kancelu and Felix, who would require a huge transfer fee. European soccer transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano said that 'the 19가이드 agents of both players are still in talks with Barcelona', suggesting that there is a possibility that they could stay, but it is unlikely to be an outright transfer option. Furthermore, neither player has been a key player for Barcelona this season, so it's likely that the club will only consider the bare minimum, such as a loan for another season. It's also clear that neither player will be able to find a place at their original clubs, so they'll need to push for a move this summer.
After pledging their loyalty to Barcelona and wanting nothing more than a move to the Catalan capital, both players ended up leaving the club. While both players will continue to want to return to Barcelona this summer, it's hard to say if they will be able to do so.
