Joao Cancelo, Joao Felix and Marcos Alonso have left Barcelona upon the expiration of their contracts, the club confirmed.
Felix, 24, and Cancelo, 30, joined the Catalan giants on loan from Atletico Madrid and Manchester City at the end of last summer’s transfer window. Both loanees played regular minutes under ex-manager Xavi Hernandes as the Spanish giants finished runners-up in La Liga behind European champions Real Madrid. Felix supplied 10 goals from 44 matches and Cancelo racked up 42 appearances across both full-back positions.
Barcelona confirmed both players' departures in a statement early on Sunday afternoon upon the expiration of their deals, though the club caused some confusion when the statement appeared to be amended to erase any mention of Cancelo and Felix an hour later - igniting speculation that the duo could remain at the club for the upcoming campaign.
With both players on loan, it it likely they must return to their parent club before any new deals with Barcelona can be confirmed. Felix, upon joining Barcelona last summer, extended his Atletico contract until June 2029, while Cancelo’s deal with City runs until 2027.
Alonso, 33, joined Barcelona in 2022 from Chelsea. The Spanish international made just eight appearances for the club last term - five in the league and three in the Champions League - with his season blighted by a back injury. Across two seasons with the club, he made 45 appearances.
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According to reports, Alonso is already assessing options to join a new club and has been linked with a move to Spanish rival Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona have already agreed to let U.S. international Sergino Dest – whose contract also expired this summer – make his loan to PSV Eindhoven permanent. The defender enjoyed an effective spell with the Dutch side until April when he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
The club’s dire financial state over the last few years has made talk of summer transfer business increasingly fraught, despite the club being linked with several players, including Jadon Sancho.
Joao Cancelo was confirmed to have departed Barcelona until an amended statement caused some confusion (Pedro Salado/Getty Images)Similar to last summer, the club could be unable to register contract extensions for existing players or recruit new talent to fill the space left by the recent departures due to La Liga’s financial rules.
According to reports earlier this year, Barcelona had a €130million (£110million) hole in their accounts that needed to be sorted before the June 30 deadline.
The appointment of Hansi Flick in place of Xavi Hernandez was viewed as a shrewd acknowledgement of the club that the German coach will not be privy to extravagant spending this summer and will likely be working with a similar squad to the one from last season.
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