João Cancelo Accuses Al-Hilal of Misleading Tactics

Fresh from parading Barcelona’s 2025-26 La Liga trophy, João Cancelo has turned the spotlight back on one of the most turbulent chapters of his career. The full-back, reborn in Catalonia, has accused Al-Hilal of misleading him over his role at the club and the terms of his registration.

The Portuguese defender arrived in Saudi Arabia as a statement signing, a marquee name meant to headline Al-Hilal’s project. The reality, he says, was very different.

Speaking to DAZN, Cancelo cut through any diplomatic gloss. “At Al-Hilal, unfortunately, I had people who did not tell me the truth. They told me I was going to be registered for the Saudi league list, and then, when the time came, they did not do it. After that, I’m always the one left with the bad image… but at least I keep my word, and I would not trade it for anything. I have always been the same way. I am straightforward and I do not hold grudges against anyone," he said.

Those words lay bare the bitterness of his departure. Promised a place on the domestic registration list, he instead found himself on the outside, squeezed out by the club’s foreign-player quota. The decision cut short what was supposed to be a flagship stint in Saudi Arabia and left Cancelo carrying, in his own eyes, an unfair reputation.

The pressure finally told when a way out appeared. A loan to Barcelona has not just revived his game; it has restored his status at the top level. He has become a key figure in a title-winning side, his versatility and aggression down the flank fitting seamlessly into the club’s new cycle.

Yet the future is anything but simple.

Al-Hilal, who sidelined him from their sporting project last year, are not prepared to simply draw a line under the episode. They have set a €15 million price tag, unwilling to release him for nothing despite their earlier decision to omit him from their plans.

The same foreign-player quota that sparked his exclusion still hangs over the situation. It complicates any potential return to Riyadh and makes his status there feel like an accounting problem rather than a footballing one.

And yet Cancelo’s stance leaves a sliver of intrigue. He insists he holds no grudges. That opens the door, at least in theory, to a reintegration at Al-Hilal if a permanent move elsewhere collapses and the club decide to use a valuable foreign slot on him again.

Barcelona see it differently. The preference at Camp Nou is crystal clear: keep Cancelo, but only if he arrives as a free agent. Their financial reality does not align with Al-Hilal’s demands, setting up a standoff between a player who has found his place again, a Saudi giant protecting its asset, and a European powerhouse trying to make the numbers work.

For now, Cancelo celebrates as a champion in Spain, while his contractual future remains tied to a club he feels never kept its word. The next move in this saga will say plenty about where the power really lies in the modern transfer market.