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Despite Past Fallout, Pep Guardiola Ready To Give Joao Cancelo a Chance After Falling Out of Favour With Barcelona Fans

Published 04/25/2024, 3:13 AM EDT

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After a stellar start to his Barcelona career, Joao Cancelo has been quickly brought back to Earth. The full-back made some calamitous errors in the games against PSG and Real Madrid. Consequently, Barcelona are out of the Champions League and La Liga looks beyond their grasp as well. As such, Cancelo’s standing among the Culers has plummeted and the feeling is that they won’t make his loan permanent. So that means a return to Manchester City is likely but is Pep Guardiola in favour of reintegrating a star with whom he had a fall-out? As it stands, the Spaniard is still open to a reunion.

In his recent presser, Pep Guardiola was asked about Cancelo’s future at the English Champions. The manager replied, “We’ll see at the end of the season.” While this is nothing to be excited by, it is interesting that the Spaniard is not fully dismissive of a potential return. For Cancelo, this would be music to his ears.

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Against PSG, the full-back conceded a penalty that was converted by Kylian Mbappe. The story was similar in El Clasico as his poor tracking of Lucas Vasquez led to another goal. As such, Barca fans are unhappy with their loanee, who exited Manchester City due to a situation with Pep Guardiola.

As per reports, Cancelo was unhappy at being benched in favor of 19-year-old Rico Lewis. He reportedly said, “I’m Cancelo and I’m going to play, and not this kid. This created a lot of tension in the dressing room and is said to be why Pep Guardiola decided to move on from the full-back. Yet, it seems like the manager is willing to give him another chance. But, is Cancelo keen on working with him again?

For Joao Cancelo, Pep Guardiola is the ‘best coach’

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One thing is for certain, the Portuguese fullback is still a huge admirer of his former manager. In a recent interview, Cancelo confessed that the Spaniard is the best at what he does. Cancelo said, “For me, [Pep] Guardiola is the best coach in the world.” The respect is mutual between the pair as Guardiola had also described the Portuguese player as an ‘incredible figure‘ in City’s achievements.

via Getty

Additionally, Cancelo also raved praise on his former teammates. According to him the likes of Bernardo Silva, Haaland, KDB, and Rodri are among the world’s best. Additionally, he labelled Manchester City as the favorites for the UCL, although that prediction faltered.

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Do you think Cancelo has a place in Pep Guardiola’s side next season?

 

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Written by:

Adithya Narayanan

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Adithya is a Soccer Writer at EssentiallySports. A Liverpool fanboy, he takes pride in being alive to witness Jurgen Klopp taking the Reds to domestic and European glory. Adithya loves an in-depth soccer chat involving tactical intricacies and stats.
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Edited by:

Jayant Chhabra