With the signing of Joao Cancelo from Manchester City, FC Bayern apparently managed to make a real statement on the transfer market shortly before Deadline Day.
What does the German record champion expect from the full-back, about whose move to the Isar numerous media reports unanimously? Why is Man City letting their regulars go? And what are Cancelo’s strengths and weaknesses? sport.de answers the most important questions about the Munich transfer coup.
What does FC Bayern expect from Joao Cancelo?
So far, Benjamin Pavard, Josip Stanisic and Noussair Mazraoui have formed the right-back trio for the German record champions.
Although Pavard presented himself as a solid option this season, he has his problems, especially offensively.
The situation is similar at Stanisic. In the Bundesliga game against Eintracht Frankfurt, he was given preference over the French national player, but the Croatian World Cup driver was not really able to convince either.
Mazraoui is struggling with an inflammation of the pericardium during the World Cup after his corona disease. The 25-year-old Moroccan is offensively stronger than Pavard and Stanisic but will be out for a few more weeks.
Against this background, Cancelo’s commitment makes perfect sense. The Portuguese brings the recently missing offensive power for the right side.
In addition, his commitment could be an anticipation of Pavard’s imminent departure in the summer. His contract on Säbener Straße is about to expire. With FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, two possible buyers are already ready.
Why is Manchester City handing Joao Cancelo over to Bayern Munich?
Cancelo has long been one of the all-time favorites at Man City under team manager Pep Guardiola this season. 26 competitive games are in his statistics.
In the last three games, however, Guardiola no longer relied on Cancelo, who was mostly used as a left-back due to the suspension of Benjamin Mendy.
English media blame the problematic relationship between the Spanish star coach and his protégé. Tensions are said to have existed at the beginning of Cancelo’s time in Manchester 2019. These have been settled in the meantime, but have now probably started again.
Most recently, Guardiola even publicly criticized Cancelo’s charisma in training. “You can’t play well with bad body language. Sometimes you choose the players who look the happiest in the starting XI,” the 52-year-old explained in a media session.
Apparently the situation was so bad that City now resolved it with the transfer to Bayern.
Cancelo apparently initially moves to Munich on loan until the end of the season. After that, according to “Bild”, there is a purchase option of almost 80 million euros.
What are Joao Cancelo’s strengths and weaknesses?
Cancelo’s greatest strength is probably its flexibility. He can be used in the back four as well as in the back five on the outside positions – on both sides.
Cancelo has a great offensive drive. He often looks for the direct route into the penalty area or even closes it himself after a short detour inside. Nine goals and 22 assists in 154 competitive games for ManCity speak for themselves.
Cancelo also has exceptional dribbling skills that are rarely found in full-backs. In addition, there is ball security, which was also trained through training under Guardiola.
The 27-year-old also knows how to convince defensively. His strong understanding of the game is just as important as his positioning in space.
Cancelo sometimes reveals weaknesses against lively and tricky opponents. Although he has good skills in defensive one-on-one. However, he always has problems when the attackers change direction quickly.
Jannis Bartling