They reveal the reason why João Cancelo left Manchester City
João Cancelo, like João Félix, has been one of the most prominent names at Barcelona since joining the Catalans on loan from Manchester City, where he was no longer a member of Pep Guardiola since January, having been transferred to Bayern in the second half of last season. .
This Monday, Catalunya Ràdio revealed the alleged reason that led to this rupture between the Portuguese full-back and the coach, explaining that it all started on January 14th, the date on which the citizens lost against rivals Manchester United, in a game in which Cancelo was a starter.
Unhappy with the defender’s performance, Guardiola decided to change the team in the next game, against Tottenham – a 4-2 victory – replacing Cancelo with the young Rico Lewis. The same happened in the victories against Wolverhampton (3-0) and in the fourth round of the FA Cup, against Arsenal (1-0), this being the time when the “veneer cracked”.
When he realized that he would return to the bench in the match against the Gunners, Cancelo reportedly made comments to his teammates that did not sit well with the coach, who asked Txiki Begiristain (director) and Ferran Soriano (CEO) to withdraw from the team immediately after the final whistle.
Four days before the winter market closed, Jorge Mendes, who manages the full-back, intervened in the situation and managed to place him at Bayern, where he scored one goal and six assists in 21 games, becoming German champion before returning to Manchester. City, who loaned him out again, this time to Barcelona.
