Pep Guardiola is one of the greatest coaches of all time. He has been responsible for building some unforgettable teams, like that legendary Barcelona that won Champions League titles in 2009 and 2011 with stars like Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez, and the current Manchester City, Treble-winners in the 2022/23 season with Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne.
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But that success is no coincidence. The Spanish manager, in addition to talent, intelligence and intuition, has a key characteristic to achieve his goals: hard work. Pep demands the maximum from himself and expects the same from his players, hoping to get 100% from them. That has given him great results, but it has also sometimes caused problems.
One of the players Guardiola had issues with was Joao Cancelo. The full-back was a key part of the team until the beginning of 2023, when he returned from the World Cup with the Portugal national team. According to reports, at that time the coach perceived some behaviors that he did not like from the defender and that caused a conflict between them, which ended with his departure on loan to Bayern Munich.
Last summer Cancelo was supposed to return to the English side, but again Guardiola decided to do without him and so he went to Barcelona, where he has a contract until June 30. Now Mundo Deportivo reports that the Citizens have decided to negotiate the sale of the Portuguese player in the next transfer window, either to the Catalan side or to any other club willing to sign him.
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It turned out to be a bad deal
Joao Cancelo arrived at Manchester City from Juventus in exchange for almost $65 million and has a contract there until June 2027, but now the English club are willing to sell him for much less money. According to Jijantes, Barcelona are preparing an offer close to $20 million to buy him this summer, and they are confident that the Citizens will accept it. If this transfer is confirmed, it will be a terrible deal for them: in just five years, Cancelo's value will have been reduced to a third.
