Manchester City will be hoping to kick things off this season with the strongest possible opening. Their first encounter of the official Premier League campaign will come against Chelsea over at Stamford Bridge. To ensure victory here, Pep Guardiola and Manchester City will have to overcome a sizeable challenge.
However, in terms of squad depth, the Citizens are hardly ever in trouble it seems. The Blues from Manchester have a strong squad that is ready to take on the challenge of the new season up ahead but it seems like some familiar faces could also be rejuvenated in this campaign.
Joao Cancelo, for instance, is a player whose time at Manchester City has been mostly plagued by disputes between him and the coaching staff. As a consequence of these disputes, the player was even sent out on loan away from the club. His most recent spell was at FC Barcelona, and the Spanish club continues to want him back for another season.
However, as highlighted by Mundo Deportivo, the Portuguese fullback could potentially find his place within Guardiola’s team once more. During a recent press conference ahead of the Chelsea game, the Spanish coach made it clear that Cancelo’s future is not yet set in stone:
“Will Joao Cancelo return to the squad? It can happen, yes… He is training with us. We’ll see. Maybe he’ll stay, maybe he’ll go on loan, maybe… I don’t know yet.”
Moreover, Guardiola did also mention that the player’s attitude is now more to his liking and his behaviour in training has been positive as well:
“He is training with us and he is behaving very well in training.”
Only time will now get to dictate what his future at Manchester City looks like. External interest in the 30-year-old right-back remains as strong as ever but if Pep Guardiola manages to find some use out of him it would become quite unlikely that he ends up leaving. After all, he does have a contract in place with the Premier League champions until 2027.
