Why did Manchester City let João Cancelo join Bayern Munich on loan?

Is this the biggest shock of the January transfer window? Manchester City defender João Cancelo has agreed to join Bayern Munich on a loan deal initially until the end of the season, with the German giants having an option to make the move permanent for €70 million in the summer. The Bavarians’ sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic has swoopt to take advantage of a falling out between the Portugal international and City boss Pep Guardiola.

On Tuesday, the Bundesliga champions officially confirmed the signing of Cancelo, which they hope will help them get back to winning ways following three draws to start 2023, which has seen their lead at the top of the table cut to just a point. The ex-Valencia full-back is expected to make his debut in the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday against Mainz.

“We’re very happy that João Cancelo will now play for FC Bayern”, stated Salihamidzic in the press release on Bayern’s website. “We’ve signed him on loan now and have the possibility of signing him permanently in the summer. João is a player we’ve been thinking about for a while now because we very much appreciate his qualities. He’s the perfect fit for our system with his attacking style of play and dynamism, and his mentality and experience means he will fit in our team very well. I’m convinced João will help us in the coming weeks and months where we want to win titles.”

Cancelo also spoke to the Bayern media team after passing a medical and signing his contract following his arrival in Muncih: “FC Bayern is a great club, one of the best in the world, and it’s a huge motivation for me to now play alongside these extraordinary players. I know that this club, this team lives to win trophies and wins trophies every year. I’m also driven by the hunger for success. I’ll give my best for FC Bayern.”

Why did Manchester City allow João Cancelo to leave for Bayern Munich?

To casual onlookers, Manchester City’s decision to allow Cancelo to leave the club seems rather bizarre. The Portuguese has been widely considered to be one of the best players in the English Premier League in the last few seasons and started the Citizens’ first 14 league games of this season, as well as their first five Champions League group games. All appeared as it should.

However, The Atheltic have revealed a timeline of Cancelo’s post-World Cup falling out with Guardiola, which started with him being taken off at half-time in the league victory away to Chelsea and rapidly snowballed to ‘poor body language’, ‘walking from the team bus to the dugout and sitting on the home bench by himself’ and finally ‘not paying attention in a tactical meeting’ before City’s FA Cup win over Arsenal last Friday.