Joao Cancelo has signed a new two-year contract extension at Manchester City which will keep him at the club until 2027.
It is a deal that adequately captures his development at the Etihad, with the Portuguese full-back experiencing quite the rise since transferring from Juventus in the summer of 2019.
"City have taken my game to another level," he said in a recent interview with the club, and he's right based on his time working under Pep Guardiola.
Initially, Cancelo arrived as a second-choice right-back of sorts. Kyle Walker remained as a starter despite his purchase, and the 27 year-old defender struggled to make a worthwhile impact, starting just 13 league matches.
City's game was slightly different at the time. During his first season in Manchester, Guardiola's outfit had drifted from their primary controlling principles and seemed to almost place too much of an emphasis on attacking.
They scored 102 goals in the Premier League that year - which was at least 17 more than any other team - yet they still finished second, 18 points behind Liverpool at the summit.
The start of the following season was similar, up until City suffered a 1-1 draw at home against West Bromwich Albion in mid-December.
After that result, the Etihad side placed ninth in the table after 12 matches, and it sparked a change. "After that game I had a feeling this isn't a team I can recognise," said Guardiola. "I didn't like what I saw."
"We talked with Juanma [Lillo], Rodolfo [Borrell], Manel [Estiarte], Txiki [Begiristain] and I said we have to come back to our first principle. Our positional play, move the ball quicker, do more passes, stay more in position, run less with the ball. We started to reconstruct the team from that point."
Cancelo was a crucial part of Guardiola's new start. He wouldn't necessarily oust Walker from his starting role, but he would feature on a regular basis as a right-back or a left-back.
Much like Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold at Anfield, Cancelo would become central to City's ability to progress through the thirds of the pitch, before also creating chances around the penalty box.
The controlling nature of Guardiola's team has been restored since the disappointment against West Brom, with Cancelo acting as a key pillar.
So far this season, only Alexander-Arnold has completed more progressive passes than Cancelo's total of 173 in the Premier League, and the same applies to passes into the penalty box.
The Portuguese international also has five assists to his name, and he places second in the division for progressive carries behind only Bernardo Silva, which offers an insight into his dynamic nature.
Ultimately, Cancelo is one of the faces of Guardiola's new-look City. He's prospered as the team has went back to basics, and the club's desire to keep him for as long as possible is not a surprise.
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