Wow Joao! Cancelo is world class, says Nigel

JOAO Cancelo should be considered as world class, according to former City midfielder Nigel de Jong.

The Blues beat Club Brugge 5-1 in Belgium on Tuesday in their Champions League group, to make it six points from their opening three games.

It was a welcome result for Pep Guardiola’s side, with a number of stand-out individual performances including from first goalscorer Cancelo.

The Portuguese full-back, moved back over to the left in Bruges, and timed a forward run perfectly to chest down Phil Foden’s sublime chip forward and finish smartly under former Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.

Cancelo also played his part in a ruthless attacking performance from the Blues, and continued his brilliant start to the season.

His goal was his second in three Champions League outings after a fine strike in the win over RB Leipzig.

He is the club’s most-used player so far this season and is starting to get attention for his impressive form, with De Jong describing him as one of the world’s best full-backs.

“Can we take a moment and talk about Cancelo’s recent performances? Fair to say he’s becoming one of the best full backs in the world. Underrated,” said the former City midfielder.

One person who didn’t miss Cancelo’s influential performance was UEFA technical observer Steffen Freund, who named him the official Man of the Match for City’s big win.

Explaining that decision, Freund said: “A very strong performance from the left-back, who was heavily involved in attack.

“He opened the scoring for City and was always available for a pass.

“He made really good deep runs, which is what you expect from full-backs going forward. He’s incredibly comfortable on the ball.

“They’ve hardly been able to get it off him.”