BREAKING Man City brutally selling Joao Cancelo with fans branding it ‘most surprising move ever’

On Jan 30, 2023

Manchester City have shockingly agreed to loan defender Joao Cancelo to Bayern Munich less than two days before the end of the January transfer window.

The loan deal, The Athletic report, is set to include a buy option, believed to be around £62m, with the German champions long-term admirers of the 28-year-old.

The deal comes as complete surprise given the starring role Cancelo has played in City’s first team over the past few seasons, though the Portugal international has recently fallen out of favour under Pep Guardiola, failing to start any of their last three games in all competitions.

Fans have been left astounded, as one football fan on Twitter called it “one of the most surprising moves of the window!”

“One to file under the ‘What the hell happened here?!?’ bracket of transfer,” another tweeted. A third wrote: “This is INSANE. He’s one of City’s most reliable performers.”

The likes of Rico Lewis, Nathan Ake, John Stones and Kyle Walker, have all been preferred to Cancelo in the full-back slots in recent weeks, though it remains unclear exactly why City have sanctioned the deal – which comes just a few months after City sold Cancelo’s understudy Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal.

Has Cancelo fallen out with Guardiola? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

It remains unclear whether there was a falling out between Pep Guardiola and Joao Cancelo
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Cancelo was named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year in each of the last two seasons and featured in all but two of City’s league matches during their title-winning campaign last season.

The former Juventus man is under contract at the Etihad until 2027, but could make his impending switch to Bayern permanent should the Bundesliga club activate the buy clause.

Bayern have lost just once in the league so far, but have their lead at the top slip to just a point after drawing their last three matches.

Cancelo, who can play on both flanks, is likely to slot at right-back, given how much chopping-and-changing Bayern have been doing in the position all season, as well as the fact that left-back Alphonso Davies is one of the first names on the team sheet.