Former Liverpool ace implores Euro giants to snare Man City star who’s ‘exactly’ what they ‘need’

Sadio Mane has told Bayern Munich to sign Manchester City loanee Joao Cancelo permanently, as he’s “exactly the kind” of player they need.

Cancelo has been plying his trade in the Bundesliga with Bayern since January. His exit from City came as somewhat unexpected at the back end of the window.

He was omitted from Pep Guardiola’s starting XI for a few games, and that was enough for him to seek an exit from the club.

Indeed, the manager subsequently admitted the Portuguese “needs to play to be happy,” which explained why he and the club felt it best for him to head on loan to Bayern.

So far, Cancelo has played eight games for the German side, starting five of those. He’s had a good impact in his as yet limited career with Bayern, scoring once and assisting four times.

While the expectation would be everybody is happy with that output, things might not be running smoothly.

Indeed, a recent report stated Bayern are ‘unlikely’ to trigger their option to buy Cancelo at the end of the season.

That’d result in him either moving back to City, or a move elsewhere. A shock move to Barcelona could be on the cards, with the Spanish side sensing an opportunity with Bayern not wanting him and his stock at City after going out on loan unclear.

Mane thinks Bayern ‘need’ Cancelo

However, Bayern might think twice about their reported decision not to buy Cancelo. The reason for that is a glowing reference from Mane, who he both currently plays with, and was a rival of while the winger was at Liverpool.

In Bayern’s last game, a 5-3 win against Augsburg, Cancelo scored his side’s first goal and assisted their last. Mane was full of praise for his teammate after the game.

“What a player! Today we saw again that Joao is one of the best in the world. So good, really, we are very happy that he is playing for us,” he told Sport1.

“I would like to see him with us next season. We need exactly the kind of players, for sure!”

That one of Bayern’s star men wants to see the club sign Cancelo could go a long way for his future at the club. A talented player like Mane has played with a lot of top players, and should know one when he sees them.

Bayern can deal without Cancelo

While Cancelo has impacted Bayern during his time there, they don’t necessarily need him. They’ve won the league every season since 2012/13.

As such, with or without him, it wouldn’t be a surprise if that domination of the Bundesliga was to continue.

It will cost Bayern £61.5million to buy the full-back. That’s a lot of money for a player that they could do without and that hasn’t even started every game during his time at the club.

It could be put to better use elsewhere, and Bayern might well want to do that.

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