Report: Training ground fight between Joao Cancelo and Pep Guardiola led to Bayern Munich transfer

Brazzo is like a panther. He sees a player beefing with their coach, and immediately pounces on the transfer.

First it was Daley Blind at Ajax, and now Joao Cancelo is on his way from Manchester City to Bayern Munich on a loan with a buy-option. According to Jack Gaughan of the Daily Mail (who originally reported the fee option, by the way) this is down to a serious disagreement between the player and Pep Guardiola in training.

The situation between the two parties had been deteriorating for several months now, with Cancelo vocal about his lack of game time since the World Cup. The Portuguese fullback reportedly had several heated discussions with Guardiola and started only three out of ten games in that period. He was pulled at half-time during the 1-0 win over Chelsea, in addition to playing during defeats versus Manchester United and Southampton.

The final straw came on the eve of City’s clash against Arsenal in the FA Cup. Cancelo is said to have “reacted angrily” in training after finding out that he would not make the starting XI. City went on to win that match 1-0. After the game, Pep publicly said that a certain player was “not satisfied” on the team.

This is consistent with reports from Bild, who claim that contact between Bayern Munich and the player ramped up as late as Saturday. Man City gave Cancelo the greenlight to leave and the player and his team actually brought forward the offer from Bayern Munich.

Bayern have the option to sign him permanently for around 70 million euros. Whether Cancelo will justify that amount remains to be seen, but for now, he’s going to act as invaluable cover at the left and right-back positions for the club heading into the knockout stages of the Champions League.