Joao Cancelo Faces Pep Guardiola Reality At Bayern Munich

The loan move of Joao Cancelo to Bayern Munich from Manchester City is not quite going to plan, just two months after he joined the Bavarians.

Despite being one of the key players in Manchester City’s back-to-back Premier League title wins, the Portugal international became unhappy with his lack of game-time and was allowed to join Bayern on loan late in the January window.

A report suggests that Cancelo can get angry when he is not playing regularly and his omission in the FA Cup win over Arsenal proved to be the final straw. Bayern wrapped up his switch swiftly, with an option to purchase him outright for £61 million.

He started off well with the Bundesliga champions, making an instant impact with a stunning assist just 17 minutes into his debut.

Joao Cancelo then set up another goal in his second outing and looked to be getting a new lease of life with Bayern. However, he appears to be in the same position once again, having played just 12 minutes in Bayern’s last two games.

Furthermore, he is not in line to start the Champions League round of 16 second leg clash against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday at the Allianz Arena, with academy product Josip Stanisic set to be in the starting XI ahead of him. Cancelo is said to be sad and frustrated, and his facial expressions during training on Sunday would appear to back up that claim.

The style of play under Julian Nagelsmann is different to the philosophy he was used to under Pep Guardiola, and Bayern currently play with a back three, with Cancelo seen as a “typical right-back”. Cancelo is reportedly finding it hard to adapt to the new style of play and the different tactical demands of his new team.

Cancelo’s departure from Manchester City was also addressed by Guardiola last month, who said:

“‘Next season I don’t know what happens. An incredible figure in the last two leagues we won. After the World Cup, we make a pre-season and decided to play, in some patterns different. I like what I watch. I give more time to other players. His personality, mine, he loves to play. He trains the best, the situation he doesn’t play much. In the last years one of the players with more minutes. He needs to play to be happy, we decide to let him go to Munich.”