It’s been well over a month since the rumours linked João Cancelo to Manchester City in a possible €60 million move, however, as it seems now, there are more suitors lining up for the Portuguese right-back who has had a great 2018/19 season with Juventus.
TURIN, ITALY – JULY 10: Juventus player Joao Cancelo drives the ball during a training session at Jtc on July 10, 2019 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images)
Recent reports suggest the Premier League champions are close to completing the signing of Juventus right-back, who is said to leave the Italian club this summer. Following their signing of Angelino and Rodi in the last few weeks, Guardiola has set his eyes on João Cancelo, which has come off a shock considering City already has Walker at their disposal. Nonetheless, Man City boss was convinced with João Cancelo’s performances in Juventus and is now looking to add the 25-year-old to his squad. His explanation for adding João Cancelo despite having Walker was that City needs more quality players to start playing on a higher level, which he believes City needs considering the EPL and European competition gets tougher every year.
The move of João Cancelo to City was also approved by newly assigned Juventus boss Sarri, who will look to make a profit from João Cancelo, who has joined Juventus in summer of 2018 for €40,40 million and is now priced as high as €60 million. It is believed Juventus are willing to let go of João Cancelo for the sole purpose to raise money and to make room for Ajax captain de Ligt who has signed a contract with Juventus.
Still, there are other clubs in the race to sign João Cancelo ahead of Manchester City, namely Barcelona, who by some reports is in a better position than City to land the promising right-back. Calciomercato claimed that João Cancelo has agreed personal terms with the Sky Blues, however, is most likely to end up with the Catalans. The reason behind it is that City and Juventus failed to come to terms with each other because City wanted to reduce the asking price for João Cancelo by including Danilo in the deal, contrary to Juve’s cash only demand.
There were also reports of Bayern Munich interested in Cancelo, however, there were no reports of the German club contacting Juventus authorities. From what we see, Bayern are observing the fight between City and Barcelona and possibly wait for the right time to join the race for the Portuguese. However, with the transfer talks moving rather quickly, the German champions just might walk away empty-handed this summer.
Where will João Cancelo is still a huge mystery. Should Manchester City rethink their proposal and offer Juventus the demanded sum of money, João Cancelo will get to strengthen the EPL champions. However, their refusal to pay the asked price and instead include Danilo in the deal just might result in João Cancelo leaving for Barcelona, who will be happy to add the talented player, who has received a lot of praise, even from former Juventus full-back Cabrini, who stated he admires João Cancelo ability to play many roles and his work rate, which involved him in 6 goals for Juventus last season.
