Spanish club Barcelona is close to officially announcing the return of Portuguese defender João Cancelo to their squad in the coming days, after reaching a final agreement with the player and his current club, Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal, according to the Spanish newspaper "Sport."

Cancelo joins the Catalan team on loan until the end of the season to strengthen the defense, taking advantage of the regulations that allow new signings to compensate for the absence of Danish defender Andreas Christensen, who is suffering from a partial tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Barcelona will cover part of Cancelo's high salary, which amounts to 15 million euros net annually, bearing about 4 million euros, while Al Hilal will take care of the rest of the salary.

The deal received approval from German coach Hans Flick, who was initially looking for a left-back to balance the defense. However, the return of Cancelo, who had previously played for Barcelona on loan during the 2023/2024 season, was approved by the coaching staff after the player expressed his desire to return following his decision to leave the Saudi league this January.

While awaiting the official announcement, Cancelo posted cryptic messages on his Instagram account, the first of which was in English: "Imagine how many people don't like you because they haven't heard your side of the story."

And today, Thursday, he returned with a message in Portuguese saying: "I am the sum of the challenges that almost broke me, and the faith that rebuilt me. God does not take anything away without replacing it with something greater. In my world, growth is the only option." This was a clear reference to his imminent official departure from Al Hilal and the beginning of a new chapter in La Liga with Barcelona under the leadership of Flick.