On 30th June, the day on which football contracts expire in the 2023-24 season, Barcelona announced three departures: Marcos Alonso, Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo. The latter two were on loan, but had options to stay at the club. Precisely, the ‘Cules’ deleted the statements of the two Portuguese players.
Joao Felix’s first announcement came as a surprise: “He will not continue at Barcelona”. With an image that wrapped up the announcement, the ‘Cules’ left those who thought that he could continue beyond this season a little stunned. Also in the case of Joao Cancelo. In principle, and after what was known in recent months, at least they were open options for next season.
June 30th always leaves a lot of work for the communication departments. It is the deadline when all contracts signed in Europe until the 2023-24 season come to an end. So do loan deals. In the cases of Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix too. The Portuguese pair ended their loan spell at Barcelona on Sunday. Although there has been talk of all the possibilities about their future, there was no news other than the official farewell to Barca. By the form, it was clear that they would not continue.
Perhaps that is why Barcelona backed off. Minutes after announcing the departure of the two Portuguese players (on the official website and on social networks), they retracted the announcement. They deleted the posts and focused the farewell on Marcos Alonso.
It was, precisely, the first exit to be announced. This one, already evident. The Spaniard did have minutes in his first year, but this second year he has dropped down the pecking order between injuries and technical decisions by the coach.
