Joao Cancelo left Manchester City to join Bayern Munich on loan for the rest of the season and tried to dispel rumours of a fallout with Pep Guardiola in his parting statement.
The 28-year-old said his decision to leave the Sky Blues “had to do with (little) playing time” and denied that is was due to his tarnished “relationship with Pep”.
Bayern have no obligation to trigger his buying option over the summer and Cancelo kept the door open to a return by saying “I don’t see it as a final departure”, but it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll play for City again.
Cancelo made 154 appearances in all competitions since joining from Juventus, scoring nine goals with 22 assists. The Portuguese international had an outstanding campaign in 2021/22, contributing 13 goals from 52 games across the board, but his form fell off a cliff.
Cancelo has been playing poorly and was called out by Guardiola for a bad attitude in training. Pep even dropped the 28-year-old for Nathan Ake at left-back while Rico Lewis started on the right, resulting in Cancelo kicking off at his manager.
It’s believed he created a toxic atmosphere and threatened to leave City, which was accepted, so Guardiola surely won’t have him back. The fact City have already been linked with replacements suggests they’re moving on.
In other news, stats show why Man City want to sign James Maddison from Leicester City this summer
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