As per Fabrizio Romano, defensive duo João Cancelo and Aymeric Laporte are set to depart Manchester City this week.
A deal for Laporte is very close to completion, with the Spanish international on the verge of moving to Al-Nassr for a fee close to €30m.
It is believed the 29-year-old will sign a contract worth upwards of €20m per year until 2026 with the Saudi Arabian side, where he will join the likes of Sadio Mané, Marcelo Brozović, and Cristiano Ronaldo.
As for Cancelo, although his move is not as close to completion as his teammate’s, the full-back is expected to sign for Barcelona, with City and the Spanish giants currently discussing the final details of the deal with one another.
The Portuguese international has already agreed terms with Barça, and both sides hope to get the deal done by the end of the week. The deal will be a loan with an option to buy for Xavi’s side, and whilst a nothing is yet sealed, a “breakthrough” is expected soon for the move to go through.
Laporte and Cancelo joined The Citizens for €65m each in January 2018 and August 2019 respectively, and have gone on to be pivotal figures in Pep Guardiola’s side over the years, winning three Premier League titles and one EFL cup together at the club. However, the pair significantly fell out of favour under the Spanish manager last season, making a combined 27 Premier League starts between them, compared to their 69 starts the year prior. This was partly due to Cancelo being loaned out to Bayern Munich for the final six months of the campaign, where he won narrowly the Bundesliga under Thomas Tuchel as Laporte and his parent club completed a historic treble.
Furthermore, With İlkay Gündoğan and Riyad Mahrez having departed earlier in the window, City having been attempting to offload the two defenders all summer, as they look to conduct somewhat of a squad refresh heading into a season in which they can win a record fourth consecutive Premier League trophy.
Croatian Pair Joško Gvardiol and Mateo Kovačić have already joined, whilst a move for Stade Rennes winger Jeremy Doku is currently advancing– after negotiations for West Ham’s Lucas Paquetá stalled following concerns over betting investigations.
Travis Levison | Get Football
