Bayern Munich's contract with Manchester City full-back Joao Cancelo topped the headlines on the last day of the transfer window, and the deal confused fans, but City coach Pep Guardiola gave his justifications and spoke today about the reasons for abandoning the services of the Portuguese full-back.
Cancelo, 28, who won the English Premier League twice and was selected in the perfect squad for the competition in two years, moved to Bayern on loan initially, and the German champion can sign him permanently in the summer, for up to 70 million euros, according to press reports.
Cancelo lost his place in the City starting line-up after the World Cup amid reports of a rift with Guardiola, who said he was happy with his squad even though the Portuguese's departure left a void in defence.
"Next season I don't know what will happen," the Spanish coach told reporters, today, Friday. His personality loves to play. (Cancelo) trained in the best way, but he didn't play much. In the past years he was one of the most involved players."
He continued, "He needs to play to be happy, so we decided to let him go to Bayern. If Bayern wants Joao, this is because he is an exceptional player. I will not say a bad word about him. Everyone knows his work, his passion and his skills."
City is 5 points behind leaders Arsenal, with a match less for the London team, and Guardiola's team will visit Tottenham, fifth in the standings, on Sunday.
Guardiola said about this situation, "This is because they played better than us. We played good matches, but we missed penalties. In the presence of Antonio Conte (Tottenham coach) now, the quality of the team has increased in attack and in organization. It is a difficult competitor and it has always been in recent years."
And he continued, "Tottenham will fight to qualify for the Champions League. It has been in the top four for many years, so it is difficult to go to their stadium."