Pep Guardiola has admitted that Manchester City would have even been open to Joao Cancelo joining Manchester United in January, if that was his wish.
As relayed by Daily Star, the Spanish tactician had his say on the £60 million (Sky Sports) man after denying Xavi’s claim that City blocked his move to Barcelona in January.
It seems like things between Manchester City and Joao Cancelo went downhill to the extent that Pep Guardiola and Co. were open to him playing for Manchester United.
What Pep Guardiola said about Joao Cancelo and a hypothetical Manchester United move
It was widely reported in January that the Portuguese full-back’s relationship with the Catalan boss as well as the players had broken down.
In fact, journalist Alex Brotherton had shared the 29-year-old’s wife’s Instagram story after his loan move to Bayern Munich was made official, where she aimed a dig at the Sky Blues and Guardiola.
Now, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has revealed that if Joao Cancelo was even keen on signing for Manchester United, the club would happily have sold him to their cross-town rivals.
“The reality was that we decided that he had to leave and we didn’t care where he was going, even if he wanted to go to United, which is our rival. There is his agent and the clubs, they agree.”
The Joao Cancelo saga may have played a part in City’s revival
An interesting observation worth considering is that had Joao Cancelo perhaps not been sold by Manchester City to Bayern Munich, instead of Manchester United, albeit on loan, perhaps Pep Guardiola and Co. would not have found their way back to their best last season.
As Guardiola himself admitted after his side’s 4-2 win against Tottenham Hotspur, his side were suffering a drop in mentality.
By letting a key cog to his side leave in January must have been a message to the squad to up their levels or be shown the door.
This decision may have been the shift in mentality within the City camp that led to bigger and better things.
