Transfer: Defender leaves Pep Guardiola’s side for new club – this is one of the best decisions of my life

Transfer: Defender leaves Pep Guardiola’s side for new club – this is one of the best decisions of my life

Transfer: Defender leaves Pep Guardiola’s side for new club …

Manchester City have confirmed that defender Cancelo has left the club to join Saudi Arabia side Al Hilal on a permanent transfer.

Pep Guardiola’s side disclosed this in a statement on their website ahead of their Premier League clash with West Ham United on Saturday.

“Joao Cancelo has moved to Al Hilal in a permanent deal,” Man City’s statement partly read.

Cancelo joined Man City from Juventus in the summer of 2019.

The Portugal international had loan spells at Bayern Munich and…

…Manchester City are in the final week of the summer transfer window still open to completing deals before Friday’s deadline
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola
Manchester City are reportedly ready to accept an offer of £40m for Matheus Nunes should it be received during this transfer window.

The 25-year-old arrived at the Etihad Stadium last summer but was on the periphery of the first-team squad for the entirety of the campaign. Nunes made just 17 appearances in central midfield for the Blues as Pep Guardiola stuck to his tried and tested formula in the middle of the park.

So far this season, Nunes has made just brief cameo appearances for City as his struggles to break into the squad continue. As a result, Football Insider understands that Guardiola’s men would be happy to cash in on Nunes should a suitable bid be received.

Those in control of the finances at the Etihad Stadium have set their asking price for Nunes and are now waiting to see if there are any takers. Suitable offers may be few and far between though considering his lack of playing time.

Man City stars Jack Grealish, Joao Cancelo
Man City have accepted a bid worth roughly €25m/£21.2m for a world class player Pep Guardiola has moved on from, and the deal now hinges on whether personal terms are agreed.

Man City are no stranger to offloading high profile players who have won numerous Premier League titles in recent years. Indeed, the likes of Aymeric Laporte, Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez left over the last two summers. Gundogan recently returned, much to Pep Guardiola’s delight.

However, one superstar-calibre player who doesn’t have a future at the Etihad is Joao Cancelo.

The Portuguese, 30, remains an elite-level performer and was named in successive PFA teams of the season in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 campaigns.

However, once Guardiola altered his tactics and began to select centre-backs at full-back, the writing was on the wall for Cancelo.

Guardiola often features central defenders such as Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol in the full-back berths. Rico Lewis has got the nod at right-back to begin the season, though is often tasked with drifting into central midfield.

Cancelo spent time loaned to Bayern Munich and Barcelona over the last 18 months. The Portuguese was willing to re-sign with Barcelona, though their financial strife has thus far prevented a second move.

Cancelo returned to Man City first-team training this summer and Guardiola recently admitted the versatile full-back could make a surprise return to his matchday squads this season.

“He’s training with us,” Guardiola said during a press conference ahead of opening weekend. “We will see, maybe stay, maybe go on loan. I don’t know yet.

“He’s training with us, behaving really well in the training sessions. He loves to play football. We will see.”

But according to a fresh update from transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, Cancelo’s future may well lay in Saudi Arabia.

Man City accept Al-Hilal bid for Joao Cancelo

Al-Hilal – the team that won the domestic league and cup double in Saudi Arabia last season – have verbally agreed a deal with Man City.

Al-Hilal have seen a €25m/£21.2m bid accepted and all eyes are now on whether Cancelo accepts the lucrative offer he’s received.

Taking to X, Romano stated: “Al-Hilal have reached verbal agreement with Manchester City for Joao Cancelo.

“Fee around €25m package, club to club deal verbally done.

“It now depends on Joao Cancelo and his decision; Al-Hilal offered him deal worth €15m net salary per season. Cancelo will decide soon.”

TEAMtalk has been informed by transfer insider Rudy Galetti that Cancelo was initially reluctant to make the jump to Saudi Arabia.

However, the full-back’s stance has slowly begun to soften and he is now open to accepting a move to the middle east.

Man City are not expected to be in the market for a replacement in the event Cancelo accepts the Saudi switch.

However, they are on the hunt for a replacement for Julian Alvarez following his club-record £81m sale to Atletico Madrid. Oscar Bobb suffering a fractured leg has also emboldened City to make a late splash.

Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi has been earmarked as a viable target and agreeing personal terms with the Japan international won’t be a problem.

Premier League
Elsewhere, Barcelona are reportedly ready to pull out of a move for Joao Cancelo this summer having been unable to reach City’s valuation of the full-back. According to Mundo Deportivo, Barca are ready to walk away from a deal for Cancelo having been unable to reach the £21m valuation the Blues have set.

It is believed the full-back is open to taking a wage cut to help push through a permanent move to Catalonia but City want their price tag to be reached. As such, Barca are struggling to make a breakthrough with negotiations.

Over the weekend, reports suggested that Cancelo is the subject of interest from Saudi Arabia but it is unclear if he would be willing to make the move to the Middle East.