Joao Cancelo's Surprise Barcelona Return - and How Much he Earned in Saudi Arabia

Joao Cancelo Set for Barca Return: How Much Money Did he Make in Saudi Arabia?

I don’t know about anyone else, but for the last 24 hours my social media timeline has been drowning in Joao Cancelo content. Now, that may be because it’s my job to remain up to date with all the latest comings and goings in the football world, but still, it seemed excessive even in my profession.

But the truth is that the confirmation of Joao Cancelo’s return to Barcelona on loan was a truly bizarre piece of news when Fabrizio Romano confirmed the move on Monday.

🚨💙❤️ BREAKING: João Cancelo to Barcelona, here we go! Deal in place on loan until June.

Exclusive story confirmed as Barça will pay €4m as loan coverage to Al Hilal, as revealed today.

Despite Inter having deal in place with Al Hilal, João only wanted Barcelona. 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/Sy3CRMeIvT

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 5, 2026

After all, it was only a season and a half ago that the Portuguese full-back was a Barcelona player, again on loan. Though there was no optional or mandatory clause to buy him at the end of his loan spell, Barcelona would have been able to pry him away from Manchester City for just £20 million, a bargain deal for a man who has played for virtually every big side across Europe.

However, they allowed him to leave, and instead, Al-Hilal swooped in with a bumper contract and a £20.7 million offer to the Manchester club, and the next thing anyone knew, Cancelo was off to Saudi Arabia to link up with Neymar, Ruben Neves, and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic as his new teammates.

How Much Did Cancelo Earn in Saudi Arabia?

It is common knowledge that Saudi League contract offers for some of the world's most renowned footballers are the biggest anywhere, and for Cancelo it was no different.

He was already on a huge salary while at Manchester City, earning £3.6 million per year on his six-year contract, but things were taken to another level at Al-Hilal. Offered a three-year contract in the desert, Cancelo would have earned a grand total of £39.7 million, averaging out at 13.25 million per year.

🚨🔵 João Cancelo to Al Hilal, here we go! Deal in place for €25m package to Manchester City.

Cancelo completed first part of medical and verbal agreement is done, waiting to sign documents in the next hours.

Salary up to €15m package net per year on deal until 2027.

🇸🇦🤝🏻 pic.twitter.com/EZ3QLn0Xvm

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 27, 2024

However, with his loan move to Barcelona coming just a year and a half into his Al-Hilal stint, the Portuguese international has collected half of that, adding up to around £19.85 million in 18 months.

Still, not bad, and had he maintained the same salary while on loan at Barca, he would have raked in a further £6.5 million, totalling out at £26.5 million. However, it has been reported that the defender has reduced his salary by 50% in order to make the move happen, as Barca will be covering his salary for the loan move.

João Cancelo reportedly reduced his salary by more than 𝟱𝟬% to be able to return to Barça 😲

He absolutely 𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬𝑺 this club 💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/QBDz0H5Dz5

— 433 (@433) January 5, 2026

Given their financial troubles and Cancelo's high salary, a fully paid salary would have been unrealistic, but the agreement to reduce the amount they pay him highlights just how badly both sides want this move.

Is Cancelo’s Barcelona Return the Right Call?

In truth, Barcelona have been forced into bringing him back - injuries to centre backs Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen mean that full back Jules Kounde has been shifted into the central position, leaving a severe lack of squad depth out wide. Cancelo has been brought to plug this hole.

With his return to Spain, the hybrid left/right back comes back to the club where he found plenty of his best form to wow the Camp Nou faithful. Across the 42 games he played for Barca in his first loan stint, Cancelo notched four goals and five assists, and averaged an impressive 7.4 average rating, according to FotMob.

However, it was also a club where he came under plenty of criticism. While the bulk of his form was impressive, he struggled to assert himself in big games, particularly frustrating in Barcelona’s heavy defeat to PSG in the 2023/24 Champions League quarter-finals, in which they conceded seven goals across two legs.

Cancelo has always been considered more of an offensive full-back, as his defensive attributes leave something to be desired. This is fine against mid-table and relegation-threatened opponents, but in fixtures against rival clubs, balance is required, and that is one thing that Cancelo cannot offer.

This Joao Cancelo run still gives me PTSD. Play him in Big games at your own risk pic.twitter.com/okkp5bbCOY

— Kay💧 (@Kaypoisson1) January 5, 2026

Of course, Cancelo is a gifted player - you don’t play for Valencia, Inter Milan, Juventus, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Barcelona without having qualities rarely seen elsewhere, but given his poor big-game history at the club, many will be curious to see how frequently he will be used.

If he shows he has adapted his game to become more defensively sound, there is every chance that the 31-year-old will have his loan move made permanent at the second time of asking. However, if nothing has changed, and Cancelo continues to struggle when on the back foot, there is an equal chance that this could be the last big move of his career.

Certainly a player to keep an eye on over the next few months …