Mikel Arteta plans for signing Joan Cancelo
Arsenal’s manager Mikel Arteta plans for signing Cancelo and Ilkay Gundagon on this summer transfers after man city had set new asking price. The Portugal international was exiled from peo Guardiola’s squad after the conclusion of the world cup which resulted in him joining Bayern munich in Janauary transfers windows.
As both the league last match has been completed on the previous week, Cancelo’s loan spell is over in Germany. In the Contract signed it was around 70 million euros for buy option had been included when he left Manchester on January. But it will not be triggered by the German Champions which will see Cancelo returns to Manchester.
Arsenal club is interested in Cancelo, although they fear that the City club won’t be so willing to sell to them this summer following deals to sign Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko 12 months ago.
The report goes on to say that the Gunners want to strengthen at full-back this summer and could revive their interest in Real Valladolid starlet Ivan Fresneda if they aren’t able to sign Cancelo at the end of the current campaign.
Guardiola about the future of Cancelo
Pep Guardiola has been quizzed over the future of Cancelo, but has often been coy on any discussion surrounding the summer transfer window. Speaking in March, he said: “Joao [Cancelo] is a player for Bayern Munich, I don’t have any comments. He’s at Bayern Munich, at the end of the season we will review all the cases of players.”
Guardiola appears to have no interest in keeping him in the squad for next season though, which opens the door for the Gunners to add Cancelo to their ranks. As an inverted full-back, Cancelo would be a perfect fit for Mikel Arteta’s tactical set up which relies heavily on a full-back drifting inside and creating a possession overload in midfield.
Barcelona aims for Arsenal striker
Oleksandr Zinchenko moved from Etihad Stadium to Arsenal along with Gabriel Jesus last summer and Cancelo could follow suit in the upcoming window. Despite the €70million (£60.7m) buy option that Bayern could have triggered, City have significantly lowered his asking price to half of that sum, according to a new report from Spanish outlet Sport.
They claim that Guardiola will sanction an exit if an interested club agree to pay €40m (£34.7m). Barcelona are also pushing to sign Cancelo this summer, but FFP problems could prevent the La Liga champions from completing a move.
One of the key areas to address will be squad depth, with the side’s inclusion in the Champions League adding yet another conundrum to consider. With a host of positions that could be strengthened, being frugal at times could be key to ensuring that Arsenal maximise their resources.
That could see them turn to former transfer target Ferran Torres this summer to strengthen their forward ranks, having previously eyed a switch for the ex-Manchester City man. AS report that just over one-year after the Spanish international made the £47million move to Barcelona, an exit is on the cards.
It is claimed that the Blaugrana could be willing to accept an offer as low as £17million for a 23-year-old that could still have plenty of promise. Whether the Gunners will reignite that interest is unknown though, especially given their relative strength in the forward ranks at this time.
However, with the possibility of some players moving on and the versatility that Torres offers in the final third, it could be a bargain too good to miss.
An Italian journalist said, “I don’t think Guardiola is a coach who’ll say no, you don’t have to go there – because he’s superior. He thinks he’s superior in every dynamic situation in football.
“I don’t think he’d put a negative situation for him (Joao Cancelo) to go and I don’t think that Guardiola wants to say no to Arsenal or Arteta because he’s a big friend of Arteta. I don’t think he’ll say no.”
