Why Joao Cancelo is leaving Man City for Bayern Munich

Manchester City, the defending Premier League champions, had anticipated a quiet conclusion to the transfer window until it was made public on Monday that Joao Cancelo would be joining Bayern Munich on loan. The Portuguese international is scheduled to sign a loan deal with the Bundesliga powerhouses until the conclusion of the current campaign, as originally reported by The Athletic. If the transaction is approved, Bayern will also have the option to purchase Cancelo for an estimated €70 million. For a player who was essential to Pep Guardiola's team winning back-to-back league titles over the previous couple of seasons, it would mean an abrupt end in Manchester. Here is all the information you want on Cancelo's probable relocation to the Allianz Arena.

Joao Cancelo is leaving Manchester City, but why

The issue essentially comes down to game time, as is customary in these circumstances. According to appearances, Cancelo has continued to play a regular role for City this season, starting 16 of the team's 20 Premier League games. In November, he was dismissed during a 2-1 victory against Fulham. However, he has only made two league starts since the World Cup, after his poor play cost Portugal's right defender Diogo Dalot the starting job. In one of those games, City went on to defeat Chelsea 1-0 after he was replaced at the break. After playing for 90 minutes, Guardiola's team lost the Manchester City match after a late collapse.He was not used as a substitute for the home victories against Tottenham and Wolves in the league, as well as Arsenal in the FA Cup. He lost the derby 2-1 to United at Old Trafford. Cancelo put on an absolutely terrible display as City was eliminated from the Carabao Cup by relegation-threatened Southam in the interval between the Chelsea and United matches. According to The Sporting News, Cancelo personally informed City of Bayern's interest. Guardiola has always had an unspoken rule that if a player wants to go and can come up with a viable departure plan, City won't get in the way. But there is little doubt that things have swiftly gotten out of hand.

Has Pep Guardiola modified his strategy for Manchester City

When Cancelo struggled against Chelsea, he was playing outside of a central defensive three on the right side of midfield, which was an unusual position for him. In October, he played the same role against Liverpool at Anfield, when his late mistake directly contributed to Mohamed Salah's game-winning goal. Cancelo has been named to the PFA Team of the Season each of the past two seasons because to his tendency to saunter infield and into offensive positions from left-back. Guardiola, though, is known for continually adjusting the demands made of his fullbacks in order to address tactical dilemmas. Cancelo is deservedly regarded as one of the City team's most versatile players, although his specific The player's declining form, ability set, and how Guardiola has organised the club in recent months have all contributed significantly to his move to Bavaria. The arrival of Erling Haaland and his successful introduction to English football have altered the landscape for Guardiola in a number of ways. The team now had Haaland positioned high up the field to cause harm instead of using a false nine the previous two seasons, which allowed City to maintain midfield dominance as their centre attacker sank deep. Guardiola's solution is to typically set up in a 3-2-2-3 formation while the team is in control, with one of the full backs tucking in next to defensive midfielder Rodri and the other three defenders fanning out across the backline. That specific inverted function is quite constricting for Cancelo is too attack-minded and not defensively sound to play in a back three with Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake. Alexander Zinchenko was better in this area before moving to Arsenal in the summer. With the prodigiously talented Rico Lewis emerging as an inverted right-back option, Guardiola now has the young player and John Stones who can complement Rodri more naturally than Cancelo, Walker, and Ake, who are better at handling the defensive portion of the full-back position.

Has Joao Cancelo and Pep Guardiola reconciled

Given the unusually swift development of a significant transfer agreement, speculation will be prevalent in this respect. Additionally, Cancelo's transfer to Bayern would occur at a time when Guardiola has openly questioned his team's motivation and drive to catch Premier League leaders Arsenal and capture a third straight championship. Cancelo has been one of a handful of veteran players who have frequently found themselves on the bench, along with Bernardo Silva, Aymeric Laporte, and Kemba Walker. Juanma Lillo, Guardiola's mentor and former assistant, is rumoured to have developed a great friendship with Cancelo while he was a Manchester player between 2020 and 2022. Lillo departed to lead Al Sadd of Qatar at the season's finish last year. It seems significant that Cancelo's sudden decline happened after Lillo left. Cancelo, a rather erratic player in the past, agreed to a two-year contract extension with City until 2027 last February. After joining Juventus from Valencia in 2020 after spending the prior season on loan at Inter, he then moved to Manchester.

Will Joao Cancelo be replaced by Manchester City

To the dismay of many City supporters, it is doubtful that any other January signings will be made after midfielder Maximo Perrone of Argentina's Under-20 team.Although City typically adopts a systematic approach to the market, they shown their flexibility toward the close of the summer transfer season when they signed Manuel Akanji on a discounted deal from Borussia Dortmund. Cancelo's signing does demonstrate how rapidly things can change. Of the surface, Guardiola appears to be foolishly short on specialised full-backs with Cancelo following Zinchenko out the exit door after City failed to buy Marc Cucurella during the close season. Lewis has been a revelation, but Sergio Gomez, a fellow teenager, has been less effective defensively in his rare appearances at left-back. Walker would be the only senior full-back with a specialty if Cancelo left the team. On the other hand, Lewis' ascent and Ake's displays on the left side of the There appears to be enough cover due to the defence and the availability of five center-backs to execute Guardiola's current tactical strategy. This season, Walker, Akanji, Stones, Ake, and Laporte have all lined up as right or left backs on paper, although they have primarily played on one side or the other in a back three.

Can Joao Cancelo compete in a Champions League matchup with Manchester City?

Yes, but City and Bayern must first work out their contracts with RB Leipzig and Paris Saint-Germain, respectively, before they can eventually draw each other. Players who played for another club during the same season in UEFA tournaments used to be cup-tied, however that is no longer the case as of 2018/19. Philippe Coutinho famously departed Barcelona in disgrace in 2020 after scoring a goal in an 8-2 drubbing of them while on loan to Bayern. Even while it is doubtful that any City and Cancelo reunion would be quite as spectacular, Guardiola may still be in for a surprise if his team is unable to add a provision to Cancelo's contract prohibiting him from leaving.