Undroppable to unwanted - Joao Cancelo's bewildering Man City decline

When Joao Cancelo signed his contract extension in 2022, no one could have predicted the turn of events that was about to follow. The defender was one of the first names on the team sheet and had ascended to being one of the best full-backs in world football, let alone European football.

Twelve months later, Cancelo is unwanted by Pep Guardiola and City, and had a benign six-month loan spell with Bayern Munich after which the German giants decided not to activate their option to buy him for €70million. All of a sudden, Cancelo was left in limbo, just months after he was rightly being acclaimed as one of the best left-backs in the game.

The Portuguese defender had been instrumental in City’s success since his arrival from Juventus in 2019. He played a pivotal role in two Premier League title wins and was named in the Premier League Team of the Year twice.

Cancelo started in most of the games last season up until January with most notable performances coming up against the likes of Dortmund, Sevilla and Southampton. But things took a turn after the World Cup and especially towards the end of the transfer window when he didn’t play a single minute in the last three games of January against the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Arsenal in the FA Cup.

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With less than 36 hours remaining in the transfer window and Cancelo making his displeasure known about not being picked for these games to his manager, Guardiola gave the green light to sporting director Txiki Begiristain to find him a new home. Bayern were alerted and they agreed to take Cancelo on a loan deal for six months with an option to buy him this summer.

Accord