As Erik ten Hag has shown to great effect at Manchester United, sacrificing a disruptive player in order to maintain squad harmony is a risk worth taking.
It can be easily argued Cristiano Ronaldo was no great loss to the team anyway given his steep decline but his December departure did leave United with just one central striker for a number of games until Wout Weghorst was brought in. Without him sulking around the place, United's team couldn't look more together and have gone from strength to strength.
It seems unlikely Joao Cancelo was going to be sitting opposite Piers Morgan anytime soon but it does appear the full-back's discontent over his lack of minutes in recent months might have been having a similar negative impact in the Manchester City dressing room. The fact Pep Guardiola had no qualms about allowing the defender he has used more than any other this season to walk out the door with a day of the transfer window remaining lays bare how sudden and sharp his fall out of favour was.
