He has been one of the revelations of the Premier League in the last two seasons. Joao Cancelo, formerly of Valencia, arrived in Manchester in 2019 from Juventus. Although it was difficult for him to fit into Pep’s plans during his first months at City, the Portuguese footballer has emerged as one of the best full-backs in the world. Either on the right, on the left with a changed leg, or letting himself be seen in the center, where he goes to help his team get the ball out.
At Pep Guardiola’s press conference on Friday, the Catalan coach explained the reasons why Cancelo did not have as many minutes, and congratulated the club on the player’s contract renewal. “At the beginning it was difficult for us, we did not agree on many things. Partly because of my mistakes, but everyone knows how important this season is and how important it has been in the last two or three. He is an amazing person, I am delighted that he is happy here and that he can play for years to come. He can play in many positions and he can play every day.”
“He plays every game. That’s why he has the impact that he has. There are players who agree to play less minutes, and others who are not happy. They have to understand it and be committed. Now we know each other much better, and I know that each player should be treated a different way. I needed time to understand him, and now I understand him better. He is an important player for us. When he arrived we had a structure and a way of playing, and it cost him a bit, but he is a very nice boy. discussions and everything was clear, now he is happy because he plays every game”. “He loves to play football. He’s like an amateur. He could play in the morning, in the afternoon and at night. It was hard for him when he wasn’t playing so much, but sometimes it takes time. Sometimes you have different points of view, but then you know each other better.”
Pep also spoke of the arrival of Julián Álvarez
The Sampedor coach was also asked about City’s new signing, Argentinian Julián Álvarez. Both the club and Guardiola have an established plan regarding the arrival of the River player for now and the current and future performance that the attacker can offer: “In preseason he will join us and then we will decide what to do, because every season the squad changes. Personally, I am delighted to have such a young talent like yours for years to come,”
Guardiola shows a conservative position regarding the adaptation of the Argentineand has considered that, despite already demonstrating a sufficient level to compete in a club like Manchester City, he prefers that the player complete the current campaign with River Plate: “He is a player who could be with us right now, but we already have many players in that position. And I do not like that. The best thing for him is that he stays at River Plate, where he is doing very well.”He commented to the media.
Álvarez was transferred to City during the last winter window, for a price close to 20 million euros, of which practically 80% of the total will go to the coffers of River. The ‘Millo’ striker has already played almost a hundred games with his current squad, and He was crowned this summer as champion of the Copa América with the albiceleste.
