Pep Guardiola Sanctions Loan Exit for Joao Cancelo at Manchester City
In January, Joao Cancelo had three starts for Manchester City, and in two of those, Pep Guardiola couldn’t help but criticize him.
The news on Monday that the Portuguese full-back would be moving to Bayern Munich on an initial loan deal before completing a permanent move may have seemed unexpected at first, but tensions had been evident for a month.
The rise of the young full-back Rico Lewis is a major element in approving the exit of Cancelo, who has failed to start in each of City’s last three games in all competitions.
Cancelo may have realized that the situation was hopeless given that Nathan Ake is also an excellent left-back, Kyle Walker is still active enough to play in the bulk of City’s games, and John Stones and Aymeric Laporte have recently been utilized as full-backs.
The Portuguese started the game on the right side for City’s opening 2023 match against Chelsea, spending the entire first half in front of Guardiola, who was never shy to express his opinions.
In a defense that also included Stones and Ake, Guardiola chose Walker to play behind Cancelo, and when things weren’t going as he had hoped, he summoned over several of his players to give them advice.
The manager even called Walker over prior to the game’s start, and Erling Haaland did so after one minute. Cancelo appeared to receive the most urgent of the dressing downs, but Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva were also not immune to his wrath.
Former Valencia, Inter Milan, and Juventus player didn’t seem to be too pleased with what he was being asked to do in a slightly off-balance formation, and after being substituted out for Lewis at halftime, he struck a dejected figure on the bench.
The young man from the area flourished once he entered the game, showing off his prowess with the ball and being essential to City’s 1-0 victory.
Cancelo began the League Cup quarterfinal match at Southampton, this time starting on the right of a more traditional 4-4-2, six days after coming off the bench for just 30 minutes of the FA Cup victory over Chelsea and earning a booking.
He would evade Guardiola’s attention in the first half because he was positioned on the other side of the field, with inexperienced left-back Sergio Gomez being the primary offender in City’s horrific 45 minutes that ended with them behind 2-0.
Guardiola then had his chance as he continually urged Cancelo to participate more and execute his instructions in the second half.
He was incapable of doing so because City had been soundly defeated, and Guardiola’s irritation with the 28-year-old was evident. His body language, which Guardiola frequently considers when assessing his team, was undoubtedly not translating well.