Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is reportedly still interested in signing Juventus right-back Joao Cancelo, with just one week remaining for the Premier League transfer window to end. Cancelo, who has been linked with a move to Manchester City throughout the summer, with Juventus even rejecting a bid from the Premier League champions, could actually move to England.
City could be willing to offer cash plus Brazilian right-back Danilo in exchange for Cancelo, which was the offer that Juventus rejected previously, but are now keen on pursuing. A report in The Guardian states that Juve and City are currently having negotiations over the move and that Juventus are open to adding Danilo as part of the deal. Juventus had previously demanded €60 million for the Portuguese right-back and rejected the offer of €40million and Danilo that City had proposed.
Cancelo joined the Italian champions last season from Valencia for €40.4 million and went on to make 34 appearances for the club in the 2018-19 season. Danilo joined City two seasons ago from Real Madrid for a fee of £26.5 million, but found game time limited last season as Guardiola preferred Kyle Walker over him.
Does it make sense?
Manchester City’s pursuit of Cancelo has been baffling as they currently have a good right-back in Kyle Walker, who was bought by the club from rivals Tottenham in 2017 for £45 million and has five years remaining on his contract. Danilo is an able deputy for Walker, who attacks with gusto and fits in well in Guardiola’s system.
If City do sign Cancelo from Juventus, at a huge price tag, Guardiola will likely be forced to play him because of the massive fees and wages. What then happens to Walker at City, who has done so well thus far? The 25-year-old Cancelo is also at a point in his career where he will have to play week in, week out, and will not settle for a bit-part role. This could perhaps make one of the two disgruntled and cause a ripple effect in the dressing room, which has been completely free of any kind of negativity since Pep’s second season here.
Guardiola could instead focus on buying a centre-back, who could replace Vincent Kompany in the Manchester City squad, which is a bigger priority than a right-back.
Having said that, it is next to pointless to second guess Pep and his tactics and what he plans to do with two top right-backs in the team is best known to the Catalan genius and we just have to wait and see what transpires at the end of the window.