Manchester City does not seem inclined to bring back Joao Cancelo after his loan ends with Bayern Munich.
In fact, some would say this loan assignment was made solely for Cancelo to showcase himself ahead of the summer transfer window. The plan, however, might be working as both Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona are interested in the Portuguese star — only they want a lower transfer fee on the sometimes (maybe all the time when he’s not playing?) malcontent per The Mirror:
Man City given Joao Cancelo headache as Barcelona and Bayern make same transfer demand. Joao Cancelo joined Bayern Munich on loan in the January transfer window, but the German champions are reluctant to trigger the clause to make his move from Man City permanent.
Bayern were also given the option to make the deal permanent – but have already decided that City’s £60million asking price is excessive. The German club want to pay less than half of that — or extend Cancelo’s loan into next season.
New coach Thomas Tuchel admires the former Benfica, Valencia and Juventus full-back after Cancelo and wants to keep him. Guardiola has told City chiefs that the player is no longer part of his plans and needs to be moved on. Cancelo signed a two-year contract extension in January and his £130,000-a-week deal now runs until the summer of 2025.
City want him off the books and although there is interest from Barcelona, the cash-strapped Catalans would also want a loan agreement and help with subsidizing his wages. The Premier League champions may now have to slash their asking price to make the issue disappear.
Cancelo could be a viable option for Bayern Munich given the uncertainty around some of the players at right-back. Benjamin Pavard either wants to play center-back or move on from the club and it is unclear how Tuchel feels about both Noussair Mazraoui and Josip Stanišić, who both probably figured to have bigger roles under Julian Nagelsmann.