In a shocking move, Portuguese full-back Joao Cancelo has joined Bayern Munich on loan from Manchester City. Cancelo had a falling out with City manager Pep Guardiola and the club were forced to part ways with him. Bayern Munich have the option of making his loan permanent in the summer for €70m.

German giants Bayern Munich have signed and officially announced Joao Cancelo on loan from Manchester City and have the option of making his transfer permanent for €70 million this summer. The move came out of the blue and took European football by complete surprise.

Sources in England reported that Cancelo was desperate to leave the Premier League as soon as possible after growing frustrated with City in recent weeks. 

The lack of playing time was a major factor behind his decision which even led to him having a fallout with manager Pep Guardiola. When the season began, Cancelo was a first choice for Guardiola and was a regular in his starting XI. However, he has just started in five of the last 14 matches across all competitions and has lost his prominence. 

He also suffered a dip in form during the FIFA World Cup campaign in Qatar which resulted in him losing his place to Diogo Dalot instead. City are said to be impressed by the emergence of Rico Lewis from the youth team while Nathan Ake has also deputised well in that position.

“FC Bayern is a great club, one of the best in the world, and it’s enormous motivation for me to now play alongside these extraordinary players in a team,” Cancelo said in a statement.

“I know that this club, this team lives for titles and wins titles every year. I’m also driven by the hunger for success. I’ll give my best for FC Bayern.”

ESPN also believe that the English champions may not even replace Cancelo in the remaining hours of the transfer market. Guardiola believes that he has enough cover in both the left-back and centre-back positions for the second half of the season.

Cancelo arrived at the Etihad Stadium from Juventus in 2019 and was key to Premier League title wins in 2021 and 2022. He appeared in 52 matches across all competitions for City last year and even started 36 of the team’s 38 Premier League matches.