# João Cancelo to rejoin Barcelona on free transfer, sign Tuesday 2026-08-17T03:11:44+00:00 | Sports | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet João Cancelo is set to return to Barcelona on a free transfer after agreeing to terminate his contract with Al-Hilal, ending a prolonged saga over the Portugal international's future. The 32-year-old is expected in Barcelona on Tuesday to complete the deal and sign a contract, according to ESPN. Cancelo had already agreed personal terms with Barcelona in June, but was blocked by his situation at the Saudi club, which had valued him at up to €15 million. His contract termination removes any transfer fee, allowing him to join permanently after two previous loan spells. He helped Barcelona win La Liga during his most recent loan stint in the second half of last season. Barcelona manager Hansi Flick said after a 5-2 friendly win over Basel that more signings could still come. Cancelo becomes the club's fourth signing of the summer, following Anthony Gordon, Karim Adeyemi and Jesse Bisiwu. His move reunites him with former Manchester City teammate Rodri, who reportedly agreed a €76.5 million transfer from City on the same day. ## Coverage - timesofindia.indiatimes.com This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Al Hilal, Barcelona, João Cancelo, La Liga Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/joao-cancelo-to-rejoin-barcelona-on-free-transfer-sign-tuesday/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/joao-cancelo-to-rejoin-barcelona-on-free-transfer-sign-tuesday/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/