Manchester City have shockingly agreed to loan defender Joao Cancelo to Bayern Munich less than two days before the end of the January transfer window.
The loan deal, The Athletic report, is set to include a buy option, believed to be around £62m, with the German champions long-term admirers of the 28-year-old.
The deal comes as complete surprise given the starring role Cancelo has played in City’s first team over the past few seasons, though the Portugal international has recently fallen out of favour under Pep Guardiola, failing to start any of their last three games in all competitions.
Fans have been left astounded, as one football fan on Twitter called it “one of the most surprising moves of the window!”
“One to file under the ‘What the hell happened here?!?’ bracket of transfer,” another tweeted. A third wrote: “This is INSANE. He’s one of City’s most reliable performers.”
It remains unclear exactly why City have sanctioned the deal – which comes just a few months after they sold left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal – though Daily Star Sport understands Cancelo asked to leave the club due to a lack of game time, with the likes of Rico Lewis, Nathan Ake and John Stones being used ahead of him in recent weeks.
