90min

Pep Guardiola rejects Xavi's claims over blocked Joao Cancelo transfer

Joao Cancelo left Man City in January to join Bayern Munich; Xavi claimed City blocked the full-back's move to Barcelona; Cancelo will return to the Etihad Stadium this summer.

By Tom Gott

Guardiola has set the record straight
Guardiola has set the record straight / Gualter Fatia/GettyImages
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes Barcelona counterpart Xavi was 'misinformed' over his claims about a failed pursuit of Joao Cancelo in January.

Cancelo joined Bayern Munich on a six-month loan from City but Xavi claimed that Barcelona had actually agreed to sign the Portugal full-back before their move was blocked by the Premier League and Champions League winners.

Asked about Xavi's comments, Guardiola denied having any contact with Barcelona over Cancelo's future and admitted they would have done business with any club just to get the full-back out of the squad.

"He has been misinformed," Guardiola said of Xavi. "He is far from reality.

"We decided that Joao had to leave and we didn't care where, [even] if he wanted to go to Manchester United, who are the city rivals.

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"I'm not saying Xavi was lied to, but I'm saying he was misinformed. Joao went to Bayern because Bayern wanted him. We didn't get an offer from Barça.”

Barcelona remain interested in Cancelo, who will return to City this summer after Bayern declined to trigger their purchase option. The Bundesliga side argued that the agreed €70m fee was too high but 90min understands they would be interested in a cheaper deal.

Mikel Arteta is also keen on a reunion with Cancelo at Arsenal, while the full-back's representatives have been exploring a possible move to Real Madrid.

With four years remaining on his contract, Cancelo is expected to command a sizeable fee if City do decide to look for a sale.

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On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Toby Cudworth is joined by Graeme Bailey and Sean Walsh to discuss the latest transfer news. On the agenda is Arsenal's approach for Jurrien Timber, Kai Havertz and Declan Rice, the exodus of Chelsea players to Saudi Arabia, Moises Caicedo, Kyle Walker, Man Utd's goalkeeper plans & more!

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