Manchester City made official on Wednesday evening the signing of João Cancelo, from Juventus FC. The Portuguese right-back joins the current champions of the Premier League table for 65 million euros, signing until 2025.
A product of Benfica academy, just like fellow Portuguese and now City teammate Bernardo Silva, broke through the main Benfica team in 2013-14. The, now 25-year-old defender, barely played for the Portuguese side though, being sold to Valencia for €15M in the Summer of 2014.
After an impressive couple of seasons in Valencia, where he made 91 appearances and scored 4 goals, Serie A team Internazionale came calling. He spent the season of 2017-18 on loan in Milan, but after his impressive campaign with the Nerazzurri, it was another Italian team who decided to buy him. The price tag was €40.4 million.
Another option for Guardiola
Side by side with national teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, Cancelo impressed in the ‘Old Lady’, making 34 appearances, 1 goal and 5 assists. Defensively, he averaged 1.6 tackles and 1.5 clearances per game, besides having a pass accuracy of 85%.
This was probably the main reason why Pep Guardiola found Cancelo the perfect addition to his team. However, City does have already a starting option on the right, with Kyle Walker.
Will Pep adapt him to the left, since he might be more reliable to injury-prone Benjamin Mendy or to Zinchenko and Angelino?
After buying Rodri to Atletico Madrid, for €70M, Cancelo becomes the second signing of the Summer for Manchester City.
Danilo moves the other way
In the other way around, to Torino, goes fellow right-back, Danilo Luiz. The Brazilian was never a starting option for Guardiola. He will go to Juventus for €30M, lowering the price of Cancelo and helping with Financial Fair Play.
In the Italian Champions, Danilo will find again former Porto teammate Alex Sandro. Danilo played in Real Madrid, where he won 2 Champions League titles.
He joined City in 2017 and has won two Premier Leagues with the Blues of Manchester.
How will this impact Juventus team depth? Will Danilo be a proper replacement for Cancelo in the Italian squad?
The Premier League schedule starts tomorrow and the deadline for transfers is today. Keep an eye on SoccerAntenna for the latest news.
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