Joao Cancelo has completed his loan move from Manchester City to Bayern Munich, with that deal including a €70 million (£62m/$76m) purchase option.
The versatile Portugal international appeared to have a bright future at the Etihad Stadium after becoming a two-time Premier League title winner and making two PFA Teams of the Year, with Pep Guardiola making the most of the 28-year-old’s attacking instincts from full-back. Cancelo has, however, been allowed to move on after supposedly suffering a falling out with his demanding Catalan coach in Manchester.
Cancelo told Bayern’s official website of his excitement after sealing the deadline day move: “FC Bayern is a great club, one of the best in the world, and it’s enormous motivation for me to now play alongside these extraordinary players in a team. I know that this club, this team lives for titles and wins titles every year. I’m also driven by the hunger for success. I‘ll give my best for FC Bayern.”
Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic added: “We’re very happy that João Cancelo will now play for FC Bayern. We’ve signed him on loan now and have the possibility of signing him permanently in the summer. João is a player we’ve been thinking about for a while now because we very much appreciate his qualities. He’s the optimal fit in our system with his attacking style of play and dynamism, and his mentality and experience fit very well in our team. I’m convinced João will help us in the coming weeks and months where we want to win titles.”
A shock switch to Germany will see Cancelo spend the remainder of the 2022-23 campaign on loan with the reigning Bundesliga champions, with Bayern then having the opportunity to push through a permanent transfer in the summer.
Cancelo joined City from Juventus in 2019 and took in 154 appearances for the Blues, scoring 10 goals, while he also boasts 41 international caps for his country.
(Goal)
