Barcelona seal Joao Cancelo return to bolster defence ahead of LaLiga campaign

[p][b]"The full-back arrives as a free agent and signs on until June 30, 2029,"[/b] said [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barca[/a] in a statement.[/p][p]Portugal international [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cancelo-joao/dAyeWYpm/"]Cancelo[/a] terminated his contract with Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal in order to return to Camp Nou.[/p][p][b]The 32-year-old has previously spent two loan spells with Barca, including in the second half of last season, helping Hansi Flick's side retain LaLiga.[/b][/p][p]Cancelo played in Portugal, Spain and Italy before joining [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-city/Wtn9Stg0/"]Manchester City[/a] in 2019.[/p][embed guid="35202e63-f08c-4f59-9916-8a86385b68d0" url="https://x.com/FCBarcelona/status/2090431696306884876" social-type="twitter" /][p]The defender was loaned to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bayern-munich/nVp0wiqd/"]Bayern Munich[/a] and then Barcelona in the 2023/24 campaign before joining Al Hilal in 2024.[/p][p]Cancelo follows [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rodri/K0G8DB00/"]Rodri[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gordon-anthony/EFo95m2P/"]Anthony Gordon[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/adeyemi-karim/GvIzwgo8/"]Karim Adeyemi[/a] to Barca this summer, with the Catalan giants still looking to sign a striker after the departures of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lewandowski-robert/MVC8zHZD/"]Robert Lewandowski[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/torres-ferran/AVAVLaLt/"]Ferran Torres[/a].[/p][p][b]Barca were hoping to sign [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/atl-madrid/jaarqpLQ/"]Atletico Madrid[/a]'s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alvarez-julian/bBHauDIC/"]Julian Alvarez[/a] but have to look elsewhere with the Rojiblancos refusing to let the Argentina international move.[/b][/p][p]Flick's team [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/barcelona-SKbpVP5K/elche-4jl02tPF/?mid=Gfdoa7xn"]begin their LaLiga campaign on Sunday[/a] at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/elche/4jl02tPF/"]Elche[/a].[/p][infobox id="a26dc69f-5d29-48c9-8d0f-786c18f76a2b" /]