Yep, came across same yesterday too. Indeed Laporta 2.0 has been cozy with Bara, Mendes & Zahavi for deals that needed to get across the line - wouldn’t surprise me if similar is ongoing but would require alignment with Flick
On Cancelo, not at all convinced he is Hansi’s priority - convinced he wants a legitimate CB. What Joan could be doing is trying to pull off 2 moves (FB & CB) via both Andreas’ slot & ensuring Mats going on loan
Just a hunch
Barcelona has until January 15, 2026 (25 days after Andreas’ injury was confirmed) to formally submit the medical report to La Liga.
If approved, Barça can use 80% of Christensen’s salary (roughly €5.2M–€6.5M of his €13M gross) to register a new player.
This "slot" is only enough for one registration. Flick has implicitly made it clear he prioritizes a left-footed Center Back (CB) to maintain his high defensive line.
Cancelo is "holding off" on Inter because of Barça & Mendes, presumably trying to convince Laporta to use the Christensen slot for him instead. However, with Hansi reportedly resisting this, viewing a legitimate CB as a "survival priority" over a luxury full-back.
My hunch was that these moves are linked. If Laporta wants to pull off two moves (the CB Flick wants AND the Cancelo move Mendes is pushing), the Christensen injury exception isn't enough.
Registering a 2nd player, club must create additional FFP space.
Mats is currently the highest earner after Lewandowski. By loaning him to Girona or elsewhere, Barça would offload a significant portion of his wages to generate the extra €4M–€7M in cap space needed to fit Cancelo’s subsidized salary from Al Hilal alongside the new CB.
Club appear to be playing the delay game (until January 9) for the Christensen appeal to see if a "top-tier" loan CB (like Aké or a disgruntled Bundesliga star) becomes available.
Once club submits the appeal (Jan 9-15) and once La Liga's Medical Committee approves (usually a 3-day wait), the clock starts ticking—Barça will have only 20 days to use that specific money.
Signs suggest the club is "making things easy" for Ter Stegen to join Girona or elsewhere. If he agrees to the move by mid-January, it signals to Mendes that they have the space for Cancelo
Seems like a series of transactions that are largely hinged on triggering Mats’ loan - who sat and watched idly last night as the new #1 made a case to him that he’ll never start at Barça again. Will he move or not, remains to be seen. But promising Cancelo he will be signed suggests to me it is a matter of time
