Joao Cancelo’s decision to leave Manchester City midway through the season was a major shock and Darren Ambrose believes it highlights that there is a problem behind the scenes.
The 28-year-old was a regular in the starting lineup for most of the campaign, featuring in City’s first 15 Premier League games, but he lost his place after the World Cup in December and was called out by Pep Guardiola for a bad attitude in training.
Cancelo started just two of City’s last six top-flight outings and was dropped for their FA Cup fourth-round clash before he left the club. Poor form coincided with him losing his starting place, but the Portuguese international requesting a transfer so soon wasn’t what Pep expected.
Ambrose believes there’s disharmony in the came that isn’t being reported on, saying on talkSPORT: “It seems like something is going wrong to get rid of (Joao) Cancelo. I know they’ve both come out and said there were no problems, they just decided he was the man to make way.”
Before leaving City, Cancelo made 26 appearances in all competitions, scoring two goals with five assists. He hadn’t scored in the league or made an assist since October, but he’s had a hand in two goals in his first two games at Bayern, so Guardiola might have some regrets letting him go so quickly.
The Portuguese international is expected to return to Manchester at the end of the season, but Bayern have the option to sign him permanently for €70m (£62.4m). Their sporting director poured cold water on such a deal, however, so time will tell where Cancelo ends up in the coming months.
In other news, Pep Guardiola could drop Rodri after poor performance in Tottenham defeat
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