Joao Cancelo could hardly have got off to a better start at Bayern Munich after shocking the Premier League with his deadline day exit from Manchester City.
An assist within 17 minutes of his Bayern debut, and a second after 14 minutes of his second start, set Cancelo well on the way to forgetting about his frustrating few weeks he'd previously experienced out of the team at City.
However, as Cancelo was being integrated under Julian Nagelsmann, he was also being substituted in all of his first three starts, and was replaced at half time in the Champions League win at Paris Saint-Germain. Since then, he has been on the bench for the following three games and was unused at the weekend. A cryptic post on Instagram mirrors one sent shortly before his City exit, with reports in Germany already questioning his attitude in training.
Both Cancelo and Pep Guardiola pointed to the defender's desire to play regular football as the main reason for leaving. Despite reports of a falling out between the two, the pair both dismissed that and instead painted a picture of a mutual agreement that Cancelo would be better elsewhere in search of those starts he wanted.
In the eight games since, City have gradually settled on a system to cope without Cancelo. Nathan Ake will play at left-back if a team has a threatening winger, with Rico Lewis, Bernardo Silva and even Jack Grealish altering their game to accommodate a back three to cover Cancelo's absence on the left. With just one defeat since Cancelo departed, and Guardiola praising the dressing room attitude again, it seems City have quickly moved on.
Cancelo looked to be making the most of his decision, too, with those three starts appearing to be him walking straight into the Bayern side and contributing to their attacking play. At half time against PSG, though, with the scores level, Julian Nagelsmann replaced Cancelo with Alphonso Davies, who needed just eight minutes to set up Kingsley Coman to give Bayern a 1-0 advantage in the tie.
Davies kept his place against Union Berlin the next game, with Josip Stanisic coming in at right-back. Cancelo would replace him for just 12 minutes at the end, and as Nagelsmann reverted to a back three at Stuttgart this weekend, Stanisic kept his place on the right of the three, and Cancelo was unused on the bench. Coman and Davies were picked as wing-backs ahead of him after good form lately.
Explaining the decision to start Stanisic ahead of Cancelo, Nagelsmann said: “He’s handling the situation well. I don’t have any impression that he’s breaking off. Stanisic is a bit more defensive and Joao has never played right centre-back in a back three.”
Very fair, and Nagelsmann's previous comments on Cancelo being a 'very attacking full-back' and a 'very attacking-minded defender' show where Bayern see him in their team. If Coman and Davies are in form, and Stanisic offers more protection at the back, Cancelo will miss out - even if he has just been named in the FIFpro Men's World XI for 2022.
He will have to fight his way back on his own, too, with club legend Thomas Muller refusing to come to his defence when asked, instead pointing to the overall team spirit: “We’re a great team and we stick together. But I don’t do personnel debates here about who plays and who doesn’t play.”
Fellow defender Benjamin Pavard has also admitted that Cancelo's arrival has allowed him to move into a more defensive role, and that his arrival has increased competition for places across the defence and wing positions. Reports on Monday in Germany suggested Cancelo was withdrawn in training after his Stuttgart snub, and visibly showed his frustration.
On Instagram, he posted: “I do my best and let God do the rest,” with Muller replaying with three fist pumps in an apparent act of solidarity after his 'stick together' comments. The post isn't dissimilar to his final post as a City player which read: “Armored mind and smile on the face.”
If Cancelo left City for more game time, it's only taken six games for him to encounter the same level of competition as he faced at the Etihad. Meanwhile, City look like they're in the process of moving on.
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