Pep Guardiola 'awful' comment flags Joao Cancelo issue at Man City

'The most awful sentence' is how Pep Guardiola described anyone in football who thinks they have nothing left to prove.

It is what keeps the Manchester City manager going, the relentless hunger to keep finding ways to win against opposition that adapt and evolve, and it is what he demands of his players. "You have to show (it), you have to, again and again - otherwise you have to retire."

A firm view on a firm belief, and one which will not bend if Joao Cancelo returns to the Etihad in summer. Bayern Munich have an option to buy the full-back at the end of the season but look increasingly likely not to take it up as the Portugal international finds similar issues in a new home.

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City fans have watched on with knowing expressions at reports from Germany of Cancelo's dissatisfaction over a lack of playing time spilling into his training effort. At the weekend, Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamadzic took questions from reporters over the player heading straight down the tunnel at the end of Thomas Tuchel's first game in charge - a 4-2 home romp over Dortmund that saw them leapfrog their opponents into top spot in the Bundesliga.

Barring an unexpected turnaround, Cancelo will surely head back to Manchester at the end of his loan spell with his stock lower than it was when he left. If it felt like a shock for City to sanction a January departure without getting in a replacement, they have barely looked back.

There isn't anything to say that the full-back cannot make a surprise return to the fold under Guardiola. Others have done it before, and Cancelo himself found himself in a very difficult position in his first season at the club that saw