Guardiola explains Cancelo departure and reveals Pedro Porro was on Man City’s January shortlist

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has given his reaction to the departure of Joao Cancelo, who joined Bayern Munich in a shock deadline day move. 

The Spaniard has also revealed that Tottenham’s new right-back Pedro Porro was ‘on the list’ as a potential replacement option, but admits City were never in advanced talks with him.

This update will be interesting for City supporters, many of which were surprised to see one of their star players – Cancelo – leave so late in the January window.

It seems that playing time was a key part of the decision to let the Portugal international join Bayern on loan until the end of the season – with the Bundesliga club having the option to buy him permanently for £61m.

However, Guardiola insists that there is no bad blood between him and Cancelo.

As noted by the Manchester Evening News, he said: “Cancelo always wants to play, he needs to play to be happy. He wants to play every single game and hopefully, he can at Bayern.

“I don’t know what will happen next season with Joao, but I won’t say a bad word about his work ethic, passion and skills.”

Indeed, Cancelo missed three of City’s Premier League fixtures this season, due to Guardiola’s tendency to rotate the squad. He has already made his debut at Bayern, picking up an assist in a 4-0 win over Mainz on Thursday.

Guardiola says Porro was on City’s radar

As mentioned, former City right-back Porro joined Tottenham Hotspur in a stunning deadline day move, penning a loan deal until the end of the season, with an obligation to buy set at around £40m.

The attacking full-back joined the Cityzens in 2019, but after two loan spells at Real Valladolid and Sporting Lisbon (who later made his deal permanent), failed to make a single appearance for the Premier League champions.

Interestingly, City will also take a £10m bonus from Porro’s deal with Spurs, as they had a sell on clause in the player’s contract. So, they will have a little extra money to spend next summer… not that they need it.

Now, Guardiola has given his verdict on the Spanish defenders move to the Premier League.

He added: “Pedro Porro is a very good signing for Spurs — but we were not actively working to bring him here in January, no”

“Porro was on the list, but we didn’t think about the buy-back. He decided to go to Spurs.”

The 23-year-old has been in tremendous form for Sporting this season, hence the interest of several top European clubs, including City.

In 26 appearances for the Portuguese giants this season, Porro has scored three goals and made 11 assists, giving him an impressive average of 0.54 goal contributions per game – which statistically makes him one of the most effective wing backs in Europe.

If he can have a similar impact at Spurs, he could be enough to reignite their push for Champions League qualification.

READ MORE: Manchester City secure signing of Championship wonderkid as Guardiola plots future domination