Arsenal join the race to sign Manchester City outcast Joao Cancelo

According to the latest reports this Friday, May 12, Arsenal have joined the race to sign Joao Cancelo. The Portuguese international is currently playing in the Bundesliga on loan with Bayern Munich.

Mikel Arteta and Cancelo are no strangers with the versatile full-back having played for Manchester City when the Spaniard was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at the Etihad. The Arsenal coach is said to be a big fan of the player, according to 90min.com.

The German giants have the option to buy the 28-year-old for a fee thought to be in the region of €70m (£61m). This figure is reported to be higher than Bayern wants to pay to secure his services so they would need to enter into negotiations with the parent club.

Arsenal will also face stiff competition from Barcelona apparently. It is believed that the Catalan club would only be interested in Cancelo if they could take him to Camp Nou on a loan spell first.

There has also been chatter that Real Madrid are in the market to secure additional cover for their veteran full-back Dani Carvajal. Cancelo’s representatives have allegedly been sounding out that avenue as well.

The exact story of what happened between the player and Guardiola at the current Premier League champions remains unclear. Whatever it was, Cancelo suddenly made a rapid move to the German champions halfway through the 2022/23 season.

In 2019, he arrived at the Etihad from Juventus in a transfer that made the Portuguese star the most expensive right-back ever. He struggled to win Kyle Walker’s spot though, with the England defender not the easiest to displace.

Cancelo has an excellent pedigree, having previously played in Portugal with Benfica, Valencia in Spain’s La Liga, and Inter Milan in Italy, before joining Serie A giants Juventus.

He has already won league titles in Portugal, Italy, and England, and is on the verge of another medal in Germany with Bayern close to winning the Bundesliga again.