Having arrived at Manchester City in 2019 from Juventus, João Cancelo (30 years old) lasted three and a half years with Pep Guardiola before becoming an unwanted player. Bought for €60 million from Juventus, the Portuguese left-back (nine goals and 21 assists in 154 matches) was then sent on loan to Bayern Munich in January 2023. A loan without success.
With one goal and six assists in 21 games, the Portuguese failed to convince the Bavarian giants to pay the €60 million demanded by City to keep him permanently. The same story six months later when he was sent to FC Barcelona (four goals, five assists), even if the Blaugranas mainly dropped the deal because they did not have the means to pay such a transaction.
Cancelo definitely sold, finally
Having returned to City this summer, Cancelo has, unsurprisingly, been placed in the Mancunian loft. Maybe he will stay or maybe he will be loaned. He is training well and behaving well. What happens will depend on his agent, we will treat him like the others, with respect and trying to get the most out of his qualities. I have never doubted his qualities, but we will see what happens “, declared Pep Guardiola recently.
Since then, things have changed and Manchester City will finally manage to get rid of an undesirable player under contract until 2027. A Bola claims that an agreement has been reached with the Saudi club Al-Hilal. Cancelo will be transferred and the Skyblues will recover around €40 million in the deal. A nice resale. For his part, the defender will sign a contract with a salary of €70 million over three years. Jorge Mendes has clearly managed to convince Jorge Jesus, whom Cancelo knew at Benfica, to come to the aid of his protégé.
