Manchester City could reportedly have signed Nelson Semedo last summer, before the Portugal international made his move to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
According to Calciomercato, the Citizens were actually poised to sign the 27-year-old as part of three-man swap deal, but Inter Milan pulled the plug.
Apparently, the plan was for Joao Cancelo to go to Inter, Lautaro Martinez to go to Barcelona and then Semedo to move to City.
But Inter backed out after they decided to sign Achraf Hakimi from Real Madrid.
In the end, Semedo joined Wolves and it’s been a mixed bag for him at Molineux.
The star arrived for a big transfer fee (an initial £29 million according to Sky Sports), and is arguably yet to prove himself an upgrade on Matt Doherty.
There have been some question marks over his defensive capabilities, and he hasn’t produced any assists yet.
By contrast, Cancelo has enjoyed an absolutely superb campaign for City in 2020/21, and Guardiola will be delighted the 26-year-old stayed put.
Only one winner in Cancelo vs Semedo
City fans will be absolutely delighted that Cancelo didn’t leave – at one point, his future was actually in a bit of doubt.
He’s been in amazing form this season, taking up very interesting positions in midfield despite being a natural right-back.
He is an extremely clever player with great technical quality and an eye to create, but he also doesn’t neglect his defensive duties.
Seeing how Semedo is getting on at Wolves, City will be glad a deal never came to fruition.
