Manchester City’s João Cancelo has signed for Bayern Munich until the end of the season, with the 28-year-old appearing to have fallen out of favour at the Etihad Stadium. Despite his ability to play on either side of the defence, Pep Guardiola appears to prefer utilising Nathan Aké and academy graduate Rico Lewis in the wide positions – leaving the Portuguese star on the bench.
This is rumoured to have led to a disagreement between Cancelo and Guardiola, with a move away appearing to be the best option for both parties to ensure the atmosphere at the club remains optimal as they push for a seventh Premier League title. Despite this move initially being a short-term loan, senior figures at Bayern have indicated that there is an option-to-buy clause that they can activate in the summer, with the fee expected to be around £60m.
FC Bayern is a great club – one of the best in the world – and it’s enormous motivation for me to now play alongside these extraordinary players in a team… This team lives for titles and wins titles every year. I’m also driven by the hunger for success. I’ll give my best for FC Bayern.
João Cancelo speaking to Bayern Munich’s media team
The German club’s sporting director, Hasan Salihamidžić, added that the club were “very happy that João Cancelo will now play for FC Bayern. We’ve signed him on loan now and have the possibility of signing him permanently in the summer. João is a player we’ve been thinking about for a while now because we very much appreciate his qualities. He’s the optimal fit in our system with his attacking style of play and dynamism, and his mentality and experience fit very well in our team. I’m convinced João will help us in the coming weeks and months where we want to win titles.”
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