Is João Cancelo eligible to play for Bayern Munich against Manchester City in the Champions League?
Joao Cancelo joined Bayern on loan from City.
Manchester City will play Bayern Munich in an intriguing Champions League quarter-final double-header next month.
Portugal international João Cancelo joined Bayern on loan from the City side after spending time on the bench at the Etihad and supporters may be wondering if he will show up in Manchester with the German club.
Is Cancelo eligible to play for Bayern against Manchester City?
Premier League rules don’t permit players who are on loan to face their parent club, but this rule doesn’t exist in European competition - in this case, the Champions League.
When drawing up contracts, clubs can agree to prevent loanees from playing against them while on loan but City haven’t added such a clause to their agreement with Bayern for Cancelo, meaning he will be available for selection when the clubs meet in the last 8 of the competition.
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Sport Bild reporter Tobi Altschäffl wrote on Twitter: “João Cancelo facing Manchester City in the #UCL: he can play against his former club. There is no clause in his loan contract that he is not allowed to play against City.”
Will Cancelo return to City?
Cancelo’s loan deal with Bayern is until the end of the season but the Bundesliga side do have the option to buy the full-back this summer. His contract at City runs until 2027.