Chelsea and Barcelona target Joao Cancelo set to leave Valencia at end of season

Chelsea and Barcelona have both been handed a major boost in the race to sign Joao Cancelo, who is set to leave Valencia at the end of the season. Los Che need to balance the books in order to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations and are prepared to sell the right-back for around £26m ($31.7m).

Cancelo joined Valencia from Benfica for £13m in 2014 and has impressed many during his stint at the Mestalla. The Spanish giants are currently in the midst of financial trouble and Deporte Valenciano claims that the owner Peter Lim and Cancelo's agent Jorge Mendes have agreed to sell him for £26m.

Chelsea are keen to bolster their squad at the end of the season and have identified 22-year-old Cancelo as the man to provide competition to Victor Moses, who has been a revelation as a wing-back for the Premier League leaders. Veteran Branislav Ivanovic left Chelsea for Zenit Saint Petersburg during the transfer window, leaving starlet Ola Aina as the only cover for the former Wigan Athletic attacker.

Chelsea may be eager to lure Cancelo to Stamford Bridge, but Antonio Conte's men will face strong competition from Barcelona, who are in dire need of a new right back. Sergi Roberto and Aleix Vidal have both failed to fill the considerable void left by the decorated Brazilian Dani Alves, who left Barcelona for Juventus last summer.

The Catalan giants also have designs on bringing Arsenal's Hector Bellerin back to the Nou Camp. The talented Spaniard was on Barcelona's books during his teenage years and is considering a move away from Arsenal, with uncertainty surrounding the future of manager Arsene Wenger.

Barcelona may be monitoring Cancelo but their immediate focus is on their Champions League last 16 second leg against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday. Luis Enrique's men have to score five without conceding in order to progress to the quarter-finals, a tall order but one the Spanish league leaders believe is possible.