by Samuel A. February 1, 2023
An expected quiet end to the transfer window for Premier League champions Manchester City exploded into life on Monday when it emerged Joao Cancelo was to join Bayern Munich in a shock loan move. The Portugal international has moved to the Bundesliga giants on loan until the end of this season. Bayern have an option to buy Cancelo for a fee in the region of €70 million.
As is typically the case in these situations, the matter primarily boils down to game time. On the face of it, Cancelo retained his place as a City regular this season — appearing in 17 and starting 16 of the club’s 20 Premier League matches. He was sent off during a 2-1 win over Fulham in November, however, he only started two league games after the World Cup, where poor form saw him lose his starting place at right-back for Portugal to Diogo Dalot. In one of those outings, he was substituted at halftime before City went on to win 1-0 at Chelsea. Since completing 90 minutes when Guardiola’s side suffered a late collapse to lose the Manchester derby 2-1 against United at Old Trafford, he has been an unused substitute for the home wins over Tottenham and Wolves in the league and Arsenal in the FA Cup. In between the Chelsea and United games, Cancelo turned in a truly wretched performance as City were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by relegation-threatened Southampton.
It was revealed a day before the deadline that Cancelo himself presented Bayern’s interest to City. Throughout his tenure, Pep Guardiola has made it an unofficial policy that if a player wants to leave and can find a workable exit strategy, then City will not stand in their way. Cancelo typically played his best football marauding in-field and into attacking positions from left-back, a form that saw him named in the PFA Team of the Season in each of the past two campaigns. But one of Guardiola’s hallmarks is to tweak the demands placed upon his fullbacks to solve tactical problems. While he was rightly viewed as one of the most versatile members of the squad. The situation with Manchester City over recent years is finding a solution suitable for both parties whenever a player is seemed tired of a club, Nonetheless, this is undoubtedly a situation that has escalated quickly.
