Manchester City have confirmed the departure of Joao Cancelo to Bayern Munich, on loan for the remainder of the 2022/23 season.
The surprise move sees the Portugal international switch to the Bundesliga on deadline day, having previously been one of the top performers in Pep Guardiola’s title-winning team last year.
However, he has featured intermittently since the World Cup, with Rico Lewis making his way into the senior set-up on the right side of City’s back line and Kyle Walker another option there. On the left, Nathan Ake has been the go-to starter more often than not.
Cancelo’s arrival follows that of Daley Blind’s to boost Julian Nagelsmann’s options at full-back, with Bayern having lost the services of Lucas Hernandez after he suffered an ACL tear at the World Cup.
The 28-year-old joined City in 2019 from Juventus and has won the Premier League twice at the Etihad Stadium.
“Bayern is a great club, one of the best in the world, and it’s enormous motivation for me to now play alongside these extraordinary players in a team,” Cancelo told the club upon joining. “I know that this club, this team lives for titles and wins titles every year. I’m also driven by the hunger for success. I’ll give my best for FC Bayern.”
Prior to the announcement, he posted a social media message saying: “Once a Cityzen, always a Cityzen. Thank you”.
Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic confirmed the German side have an option to make the loan permanent at the end of the season.
“We’ve signed him on loan now and have the possibility of signing him permanently in the summer. Joao is a player we’ve been thinking about for a while now because we very much appreciate his qualities,” he said.
“He’s the optimal fit in our system with his attacking style of play and dynamism, and his mentality and experience fit very well in our team. I’m convinced Joao will help us in the coming weeks and months where we want to win titles.”
