Joao Cancelo, who joined Manchester City from Juventus in August 2019 for €65 million (£56m/$70m), initially flourished under the guidance of manager Pep Guardiola. Recognized as one of Europe’s premier full-backs, Cancelo played a pivotal role in City’s achievements.
However, a noticeable change occurred during the first half of the previous season when Guardiola began rotating his squad, leading to the sidelining of the Portuguese defender. This alteration in status resulted in public discord between Cancelo and Guardiola, ultimately leading to Cancelo’s loan spells at Bayern Munich and later Barcelona.
Journalist Lu Martín shed light on the situation, attributing Cancelo’s departures to attitude and behavioral issues arising from not being selected by managers throughout his career.
“We have explained it several times,” he stated. “It’s a problem of attitude and behaviour. If there’s one thing Pep can’t stand it’s bad behaviour and being overweight. Cancelo’s behaviour was not the right one, although as a footballer he has tremendous quality. The same thing happened to him at Valencia. He didn’t leave because he didn’t play badly, he left because even God couldn’t stand him.”
Cancelo is an integral part of Barcelona’s lineup and has already participated in 28 matches across various competitions this season. However, Martin emphasized that this situation could change swiftly if he finds himself relegated to the bench by Xavi and another player is favoured.
“At Barca as long as he plays, there is no problem, but the day he stops playing his character will come out,” Martin said. “As long as he doesn’t have competition that won’t happen, but at City it was different, there was a lot of quality there.”
Cancelo’s alleged attitude problem underscores the significance of professionalism and demeanour in football. Despite his remarkable skills as a player, his purported behavioural challenges have evidently impacted his career trajectory and relationships with managers. Nevertheless, he is currently relishing his time in Spain and is slated to feature against Getafe in a La Liga clash on Saturday.
João Cancelo
João Pedro Cavaco Cancelo
PortugalThis season he played in total 21 times for 1613 minutes for La Liga.
João Cancelo scored 2 goals for FC Barcelona. He procured 3 assists. He received 4 yellow cards and no red cards.
His team is currently 3rd in La Liga. In the last match FC Barcelona drew 1-1 against Napoli. The next match in La Liga will be against Getafe.
FC Barcelona performance and stats
FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona is currently 3rd in the La Liga with 54 points.
In the last 25 games, it has won 16 times, drawn 6 times, and lost 3 times. In its last match, FC Barcelona won 1-2 against Celta de Vigo.
It has a positive goal difference after scoring 52 goals and conceding 34.
FC Barcelona will play the next match in La Liga against Getafe on Saturday 24th of February in Barcelona. The prediction is FC Barcelona winning the match.
