Cancelo’s a thorn in Pep’s side
MANCHESTER CITY are facing a £60million headache over unwanted star Joao Cancelo.
The Portugal defender will return to the Etihad with Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.
In January, City manager Pep Guardiola sanctioned a loan move to the Bundesliga club when it became clear the 28-year-old was becoming a disruptive influence on the Etihad dressing room.
Bayern were given the option to make the deal permanent – but have already decided that City’s £60m asking price is excessive. The German club want to pay less than half of that, or extend Cancelo’s loan into next season.
New Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel admires former Benfica, Valencia and Juventus fullback Cancelo and wants to keep him.
Guardiola (right) has told City chiefs that the player is no longer part of his plans and needs to be moved on.
But Cancelo signed a two-year contract extension in January – and his £130,000-a-week Etihad deal now runs until the summer of 2025.
City want him off the books and although there is interest from Barcelona, the cash-strapped Catalans would also want a loan agreement AND help with subsidising his wages.
The Premier League champions may now have to slash their asking price to make the issue disappear. Cancelo was signed by City in the summer of 2019 as part of a £60m deal that saw Danilo move to Juventus as a £30m makeweight.
He was outstanding as the Blues won successive Premier League titles.
But a loss of form saw Guardiola turn to Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake as his first-choice full-backs, and the emergence of teenager Rico Lewis added to Cancelo’s frustrations.