Arsenal prepare to raid Manchester City once again this summer for 28-year-old outcast: Reports
Arsenal have reportedly entered the race for Joao Cancelo as Mikel Arteta eyes a third transfer from Manchester City in the last 12 months. The Portuguese fullback is currently on loan at Bayern Munich and has been linked with a move to Barcelona as well.
As per a report by Matt Law of the Telegraph, Arsenal are the latest club to show interest in Cancelo. The Gunners are in the market for a right-back and see the Manchester City man as the perfect fit for Arteta's plans.
Arsenal signed Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City last summer, and that has helped them challenge for the Premier League title. However, they have slipped up and let the Cityzens overtake them in recent weeks. Arsenal are four points behind City, having played one more game.
Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, has not yet ruled out keeping Cancelo at the club next season despite the Portuguese forcing a loan away in January. He told the media via GOAL:
"We [will] see what happens at the end of the season. At the end of the season, we talk many, many things about many, many players."
Bayern Munich have a €70 million option to sign Cancelo permanently in the summer but are unlikely to activate it.
Why did Arsenal target leave Manchester City?
Joao Cancelo has revealed that he had his role limited under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City after the recent change in tactics. The manager was using a defender in the midfield and that reduced the role of a full-back in his formation.
He told the media in Germany:
"As I already said, he [Guardiola] found a way to play, after the World Cup, in which he started playing with a full-back more inside, where I also played, and he liked what he saw with Rico and Nathan. I think a player is always a bit selfish. Any player wants to feel important, wants to play and anyone who says otherwise is lying. A competitive player, like me, who aspires to win titles, just wants to play."
Cancelo continued:
"It's like Pep said, I need to play to be happy. It's not a question of devaluing my teammates, because others are on the bench to play. But I thought I deserved to play and he didn't. So we talked, it was a conversation, not a discussion, and we decided that the best thing would be for me to leave this market. An opportunity I couldn't refuse. But I'm very grateful to City and the fans."
Manchester City are open to letting Arsenal target Cancelo leave and have set sights on Chelsea's Ben Chilwell and Brentford's Aaron Hickey (via GOAL). Overall, Cancelo has made 154 appearances for City, contributing nine goals and 22 assists.