Joao Cancelo has denied that a training ground bust-up with Pep Guardiola led to him leaving Manchester City.
Cancelo completed his shock move to Bayern Munich on Tuesday, with the Portuguese star joining the German champions on loan until the end of the season. Bayern have an obligation to buy him for £61.5m in the summer.
Cancelo was involved in a furious training ground argument with Guardiola after learning that he would not be starting City’s FA Cup clash with Arsenal last Friday, but he has claimed that this incident did not cause his swift exit.
‘I’ve not had much game time in the past few weeks, which influenced my decision. It has nothing to do with my relationship with Pep,’ Cancelo said as he was unveiled as a Bayern player.
Cancelo had fallen out of favour at City upon the resumption of domestic football, starting just three of the team’s 10 games following the World Cup.
The 28-year-old was hauled off at half time during City’s 1-0 win at Chelsea earlier this month, and had struggled to get back into the team amid the emergence of teenager Rico Lewis and the strong performances of Nathan Ake.
Cancelo is known to be ‘like a volcano’ when he is not starting games, reacting badly to being dropped, and his attitude reportedly became a concern for Guardiola and his coaching staff. According to The Athletic, Cancelo’s behaviour in training was feared to be affecting the rest of the squad, and City coaches believed he was not paying attention in tactical meetings after being consistently left out of the starting XI.
Credit: dailymail.co.uk
