Man City could ‘swap Joao Cancelo for Barcelona left-back’ and more transfer rumours

Manchester City could receive a swap offer from Barcelona involving Joao Cancelo, according to a report.

Cancelo is on loan at the Spanish club for the season and has started all but two of his 21 matches for the club. Barcelona chief Joan Laporta has made it clear that he will try and keep the defender in-house beyond his loan spell and plans to speak with City about a permanent transfer.

A report from Sport suggests that Barcelona could offer left-back Alejandro Balde in return to lower the price tag. The La Liga champions are still battling financial difficulty and will likely have to make cut-price deals next year unless big-money players are sold.

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Pep Guardiola only has one natural left-back in his squad, although Sergio Gomez has started just three of his eight games this season and is yet to be named in a Premier League starting XI this term.

He has instead preferred to use either summer signing Josko Gvardiol or Nathan Ake - and at times Manuel Akanji - in the position in place of Cancelo, who still holds a rift with Guardiola. Balde, 20, is a regular under Xavi at Barcelona having helped to keep eight clean sheets this campaign.

The Spain international, who has tallied one assist so far, does not see his contract expire until 2028. Cancelo’s City deal runs out in 2027.

Meanwhile, The Chronicle says that City would command a £7.5million loan fee from Newcastle for Kalvin Phillips. The midfielder looks set to leave the Etihad in the new year having been used just 10 times this season.

He has not started a Premier League game all season and his last appearance in the competition came in