Joao Cancelo 'had to leave' Manchester City in January, to the extent that he would have been allowed to join Manchester United, says Pep Guardiola.
City sanctioned a shock exit for Cancelo in the final days of the transfer window, with the Portuguese moving to Bayern Munich. The German side have an option to buy Cancelo, although it looks unlikely that they will trigger that clause for around £60m.
That leaves Cancelo in limbo, and one suggested option for a permanent transfer out of City was Barcelona. However, Barcelona have claimed that City blocked a January move for Cancelo - something City dispute as they never received an offer from the Catalan side.
Speaking during a charity golf tournament, Guardiola was asked about the disagreement between City and Barcelona, and commented that Barca boss Xavi has been 'misinformed' over any January move for Cancelo.
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After Xavi claimed that Barcelona did make an approach for Cancelo, Guardiola attempted to put the record straight - explaining how Cancelo's exit came about and adding that City would even have let the full-back move across Manchester to United.
"I think they have informed him very badly. He is far from reality," Guardiola told Spanish reporters. "The reality was that we decided that he had to leave and we didn't care where he was going, even if he wanted to go to United, which is our rival. There is his agent and the clubs they agree. I won't say that they deceived him but that they misinformed him."
Guardiola added that the decision to move to Germany was made "by the footballer and Bayern", adding: "if Bayern don't want him, then he won't go there."
Regarding Cancelo's future, Guardiola said that City 'love' the player, and that a decision will be made by the club this summer.
"This is a matter of Txiki [Begiristain, Sporting Director], of City, of his representative and of the club that loves him," Guardiola said. "I have no idea [why he didn't sign for Barcelona]. We didn't get any offers."
