João Cancelo signs with Barcelona for three seasons after terminating Al Hilal contract

Third time's the charm. João Cancelo is now a Barcelona player on a permanent contract, something he hadn't managed in his two previous stints with the club. The Portuguese fullback terminated his deal with Saudi side Al Hilal and signed with the Catalan club on a three-year agreement.

The move wraps up a saga that had been simmering for months. Cancelo, 32, already knew the locker room inside and out: he spent the 2023-24 season on loan and returned in January of this year for a second loan spell that proved decisive in Barcelona's LaLiga title run. Now, finally, he's staying for good. With this move he becomes the champion's fifth signing of this transfer window, joining the arrivals of Anthony Gordon, Karim Adeyemi, Jesse Bisiwu and Rodri.

A fullback for both flanks

What makes Cancelo interesting is that he defies easy labels. He can play on either side of the defense and even further forward as a winger, though last season Hansi Flick used him mostly on the left flank. There he'll compete directly with Alejandro Balde and young Jordi Pesquer, while at right back the German coach still has Jules Koundé, Eric García and Xavi Espart at his disposal. Having a player of his caliber who can cover both lanes gives Flick a kind of flexibility that's hard to find on the market.

His resume is impressive too. Coming through Benfica's academy, he went on to play for Valencia, Inter Milan and Juventus before making the jump to Manchester City in 2019, where he established himself as one of the best fullbacks in the world. He had a loan spell at Bayern Munich in 2023, and that same summer he first joined Barça before eventually moving to Saudi Arabia.

It was during his return last January that he truly won over the fanbase: he helped the team lift the league title and, in doing so, became the first player this century to win four of Europe's five major leagues. To Spain's La Liga he adds titles in England's Premier League, Italy's Serie A and Germany's Bundesliga, along with the Primeira Liga in his native Portugal. Only France's Ligue 1 is missing to complete the set.

The fact that a player with that kind of trophy case is choosing to settle permanently at Camp Nou says a lot about where Flick's project is headed. Cancelo isn't just passing through anymore, he's here to stay, and that completely changes his role within the locker room.