Man City ace receives stunning £325k-a-week contract offer after emerging as club’s No 1 target – Sources

Al-Hilal have submitted two offers as they look to make Manchester City star Joao Cancelo the latest big-name capture in Saudi Arabia, TEAMtalk can reveal.

Cancelo has had two loan spells away from Man City since Pep Guardiola decided he wanted to start rotating his left-back options during the first half of the 2022-23 season. Cancelo spent the second half of that campaign with Bayern Munich, before joining Barcelona last season.

The Portugal ace has now returned to the Etihad, and Guardiola has not completely shut down the idea of him returning to the first team picture.

However, it remains to be seen whether this will actually happen, as Guardiola already has strong options on either side of defence due to the versatility that stars in his squad have.

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Barcelona are weighing up whether to re-sign Cancelo, but they are at serious risk of losing out on him to Saudi side Al-Hilal.

The Saudi Pro League outfit are pushing to sign a new full-back as current player Saud Abdulhamid is in advanced talks to join Roma, while the future of left-back Renan Lodi is also uncertain.

Al-Hilal have decided on Cancelo as their main target to strengthen Jorge Jesus’ squad as he can play in a number of positions.

Some reports have claimed that the 30-year-old’s move to Al-Hilal is a done deal, but that is not quite the case. However, Al-Hilal’s talks with both Cancelo and City are progressing.

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Sources have confirmed to TEAMtalk that Al-Hilal are discussing a three-year contract with Cancelo worth around €20-25million (£16.9-21.1m) per year. That works out at roughly £325-407,000 a week.

Initially, Cancelo appeared unlikely to accept the proposal, but his position is starting to soften and he is now open to the idea of playing in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi officials are confident of snaring the player and continue to hold talks as they hunt his formal green light.

Al-Hilal have also sent City – who this year rejected concrete approaches from Saudi Arabia for both Ederson and Kevin De Bruyne – an offer worth €30-35m (£25.4-29.6m), and talks between the two clubs are ongoing.

Al-Hilal are in discussions over the payment of such a deal and whether any bonuses will be included.

Al-Hilal are advancing in negotiations on both fronts as they aim to make Cancelo their latest marquee signing and a top replacement for Abdulhamid.

Should Al-Hilal reach a total agreement for the ex-Juventus star, then he will wait on Abdulhamid’s switch to Roma before heading to the Middle East. Abdulhamid’s move is expected to be finalised next week.

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