Manchester City full-back Joao Cancelo has been seeking a move away from the club for several months now, after a reported falling out with head coach Pep Guardiola – he may have an answer to his wishes in the form of Barcelona, according to a report from 90min.
While an official offer from the Catalonian giants has yet to be submitted, it will come in the near future – if 90min’s report is to be believed.
How can Manchester City replace Joao Cancelo in the squad?
This is a simple question to answer. In the second half of last season, Cancelo was loaned out to Bayern Munich – therefore, he had no role to play in the City first team.
City have a collection of excellent full-backs such as Kyle Walker, Rico Lewis and Sergio Gomez – other players, such as Bernardo Silva and Nathan Ake, can also perform an adequate job at left-back when they are called upon to do so.
In addition to this, City’s performances and results massively improved in the Portuguese’s absence – due to this, it is hard to say that they will miss him in any capacity.
Will a transfer to Barcelona be a good move for Joao Cancelo?
At this stage of his career, Barcelona would be an excellent move for Cancelo for a number of reasons. First of all, he is clearly unwanted at City – therefore, sticking around would be a foolish move. Additionally, at 29 years of age, he is in his physical prime – it should not be wasted at a club that does not require his services.
Moreover, he will fit into Xavi’s style of play at Barcelona perfectly. The former all-star midfield has a penchant for using inverted wing-backs – as Cancelo is comfortable playing at both left-back and right-back, he should fit into this system like a glove.
On top of this, for all of their financial woes, Barca are not a club on the wane. They may have struggled in Europe last season, but they were excellent domestically, as they lifted the La Liga title at the end of the campaign, beating out Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid.
