Exclusive: Barcelona midfielder had agreement with Ligue 1 club but superagent puts move on hold

Marc Casado has emerged as one of the leading candidates to leave FC Barcelona this summer, having fallen down the pecking order under Hansi Flick this past season.

The La Masia graduate has reluctantly accepted his fate and is ready to move on in the upcoming transfer window.

In fact, it appeared like a transfer to AS Monaco in Ligue 1, where he would reunite with Ansu Fati, was seemingly on the cards.

Jorge Mendes has paused the operation

However, as exclusively revealed to Barça Universal by journalist Miquel Blazquez, Jorge Mendes, who represents Casado, has currently put the operation to take him to Monaco on hold.

Casado had an agreement with Monaco. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

The midfielder had reached an agreement with the Ligue 1 giants, and the Blaugrana too had an agreement in place with the French club for the transfer some days ago.

However, Mendes pressed pause on the operation as the superagent is planning to offer the midfielder to Al Hilal as part of a potential deal involving Joao Cancelo.

The Saudi Arabian giants are holding out for a fee to let Cancelo join Barcelona permanently, while holding an interest in Casado.

And, Mendes is hoping to leverage that to engineer a move wherein the La Masia graduate signs for Al Hilal while Barça get Cancelo.

Barcelona want to sign Cancelo permanently. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

All possibilities remain

Despite reports suggesting that Monaco had decided to pull out of the transfer race for Casado, our information is that the move is still not completely ruled out at this point.

The midfielder’s priority remains to continue in Europe, but at the same time, the financial proposal from Saudi Arabia is tempting him.

So, there may be a possibility of Casado moving to Saudi Arabia now and returning to Europe at a later point in his career.

All possibilities remain open as the homegrown midfielder appears set to leave Barcelona before next season.