Joao Cancelo looks on his way out of Manchester City with Bayern Munich closing in on a loan move with the option to buy, so the 28-year-old isn’t expected to play another game for the Sky Blues.
Cancelo wasn’t commanding a starting place after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as Pep Guardiola preferred Rico Lewis at right-back and Nathan Ake at left-back, but it’s still a shock that the Portuguese international has been granted a departure so late into the winter transfer window.
City won’t have time to adequately replace Cancelo this month, so Pep is taking a big risk selling last season’s star midway through the campaign. Just six months ago, Cancelo was the most important player in the side. Now he’s considered surplus.
The 28-year-old has made 26 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring two goals with five assists. He’s featured in only two of City’s last five Premier League games, however, so the writing was somewhat on the wall.
Cancelo hasn’t been at his best, but Guardiola was already lacking at left-back after failing to adequately replace Oleksandr Zinchenko last summer, so loaning Joao to Bayern is a big call.
In other news, Aymeric Laporte has uncertain future, could be truth to ‘disgruntled’ rumours
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