João Cancelo reveals decision to leave Manchester City for Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich have just pulled João Cancelo from Manchester City out of the blue. People were speculating whether there was something going on behind the scenes at the Etihad, but Cancelo said that wasn’t the case.

He said in his first press conference for Bayern (as captured by Twitter account @iMiaSanMia) that he left Man City because he wanted to play more; he has seen his minutes reduced in recent weeks. “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. “I really wanted to embark on this new adventure at such a club with such a big history. It’s a dream for me.”

Photo by Matt McNulty - Manchester City/Manchester City FC via Getty Images

Speaking of Pep Guardiola, Cancelo apparently had a falling out with the Spanish coach which was a widely accepted explanation for Cancelo landing in Munich. Maybe Pep could’ve been a good sport one last time and told the player about Bayern, but that didn’t happen. “I didn’t talk explicitly about Bayern with Pep because everything happened very quickly. I wanted to make the right decision for my career and I did that with this great club,” said Cancelo.

City have slapped a 70 million price tag on the defender if Bayern want to keep him, but it’s not certain if he will stay; the player said so himself. “The video (on Instagram) may sound like a farewell, but it wasn’t meant that way,” Cancelo clarified. “We have to see what these 5 months will bring; I want to be here with a clear head. We will then talk about it again at the end of the season. I’m still under contract with Manchester City. I don’t see it as a final departure from the club.”