Manchester City’s Joao Cancelo Completes Permanent Move To Al Hilal

Manchester City have confirmed the departure of full-back Joao Cancelo, who has joined Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal on a permanent transfer.

Cancelo hasn’t played a competitive match for Manchester City midway through the 2022/23 season, after which he unexpectedly lost favor and joined Bayern Munich on loan in January.

He spent the following season with Barcelona but has now returned to Manchester after his loan term ended.

Pep Guardiola hadn’t ruled out Cancelo, who grew dissatisfied at his role amid rising competition from Nathan Ake and Rico Lewis, staying and being reintegrated this season, but a move to Al Hilal has now been finalized.

“I would like to wish everyone at City continued success in the future,” said Cancelo after sealing what is reported to be a £21m switch. “I had many very special moments during my time here at this great Club.

“I would like to thank my teammates, the coaches, all the staff at City, and the fans for everything during my time here.”

Cancelo is reportedly set to earn a net salary of €15m (£12.7m) per season for the next three years.

City originally signed Cancelo from Juventus in a deal that included Danilo heading in the opposite direction, worth up to £60m in the summer of 2019.

At Al Hilal, he will join international teammate Ruben Neves, along with fellow Portuguese speakers Neymar, Malcom, and Renan Lodi, under the guidance of renowned Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus.

Creating room for Cancelo, Saud Abdulhamid has made a historic transfer to Roma. It stands to make the 25-year-old, who was at the 2022 World Cup, the first-ever player from Saudi Arabia to appear in one of Europe’s top five leagues: Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, or Ligue 1.

Historically, very few players from the oil-rich Gulf nation have ever moved abroad.

Al Hilal dominated the Saudi Pro League last season and has started strong again, currently at the top of the table following a 3-0 victory over Al Okhdood in their opening match on Saturday.