Barcelona want to sign him in the summer, but have many problems.
Cancelo’s move to Bayern was a big surprise for everyone
The loan and transfer of the Portuguese to Monaco was the most sudden deal of the winter market. Rumors of Cancelo’s possible departure from Manchester City came out of nowhere and within hours became reality.
Various reasons have been cited as the probable reason for João’s departure from City, ranging from a reluctance to share playing time with Rico Lewis to a conflict with Pep Guardiola. The English edition of the Daily Mail wrote about the latter. According to the source, Cancelo was unhappy with being on the bench for a number of games and expressed dissatisfaction with Pep. However, after moving to Germany, Joao himself denied these rumors:
People who say I had a fight with Guardiola are lying. In the last few games I didn’t feel like an important player in the team. I spoke to the coach and he accepted too. And together with the club we decided that I had to leave, that it would be better for me this way.
Cancel, of course, can be trusted, but this was not the only time he wanted to leave the team. The last time he did it was in the 19/20 season and for the same reason: he wanted more time to play. Then Pep decided to transfer the Portuguese to the left wing, giving him a new role, in which he opened up well and became one of the best in the world.
In the same season, he began to have fewer chances in his favorite role. The reason for this is the takeover of Erling Haaland. Major tactical reshuffles followed at City, who acted like dominoes. The move from false nine to classic forced Guardiola to use his central midfielders in a deeper role. Exactly where Canselu lived.
In recent times, the Catalan has been increasingly using three central defenders in his lineup, one of whom occasionally plays on the wing, and another defender who can play in tandem with Rodri in the support zone. Canselu was often used as a full back, so Pep began to prefer Lewis and Walker more often.
All of the above forced Joao to turn to the management and coaching staff of the club with a request to let him go. City, as is the case in most cases, have not detained a player who wants to leave.
Bayern have no plans to buy Cansela
The loan agreement between Bayern and City provides for the right to buy Joao for 70 million euros. When the Portuguese moved, it looked as if Bayern had managed to pull off a hugely lucrative deal, as they were struggling with the flanks of defence, especially on the right.
All January mass media they were filled with the fact that Benjamin Pavard might leave the team out of a desire to play in center defense. Another player capable of playing on the right flank of defence, Nussair Mazraoui, had contracted the coronovirus during a trip to Qatar, and then contracted severe inflammation of the pericardium, the outer shell of the heart muscle. The remaining option for Bayern was Josip Stanisic.
Under such conditions, getting a player of Joao Cancelo’s caliber felt like a real gift. However, after the transfer, Cancelo never received full playing time per match. Stanisic replaced him, then Joao himself left the bench. And also in a very important match against PSG the Portuguese remained on the bench, which, according to Florian Plettenberg, the player did not like. In all tournaments he spent only 344 minutes.
The club’s sporting director, Hasan Salihamidzic, and coach, Julian Nagelsmann recently spoke about the reason. Both said they have some issues with the way Joao performs in training. Nagelsmann even had to have a personal conversation with the Portuguese to clarify the situation:
I spoke to João after one of the training sessions, where he didn’t perform very well, I liked his reaction. I had a similar experience with Angelino. In one of the training sessions, he didn’t perform very well. We spoke frankly and not just about football. Then he gave his all in training and was very good in the match.
Barcelona would like to rent Cancela in the summer
According to Diario Sport, Bayern have already communicated to the Citizens that they do not intend to activate the option to buy João. Despite conversations with the player, the management did not like his attitude towards his duties, even though he moved to a new team quite recently.
The most likely development of events is the placement of a football player on the transfer market. City’s priority is to sell the defender, but the club are not ruling out another loan option. Barcelona will be interested in such an agreement, which intends to strengthen the right flank. Furthermore, the Catalans are on good terms with Cancelo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, who could facilitate the deal.
The main obstacle could be that Joao has long wanted a stable place in the first team. Barcelona will hardly be able to guarantee the player his potential acquisition from City due to problems of various kinds that the blue garnets had to face.
