Say it ain’t so!
The Athletic’s David Ornstein is reporting that Joao Cancelo (£6m) is set to join Bayern Munich on loan before the January transfer window closes.
If the 28-year-old does leave Man City in the next 48 hours, even on a temporary basis, it will send shock waves through the world of Dream Team.
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Granted, Cancelo has been out of favour since returning from the World Cup and his performances when given minutes on the pitch have been under par, but it wasn’t that long ago he was one the defending Premier League champions’ most influential players.
Pep Guardiola has integrated teenage full-back Rico Lewis (£2.9m) into the first team and Nathan Ake (£3.7m) has been deployed at left-back in recent weeks too.
With Kyle Walker (£3.5m) and Sergio Gomez (£3.8m) also available for selection, City could feasible go without Cancelo for the rest of the season – a sentence that would have seemed ridiculous just a few months ago.
Even now, the Portugal international appears in 18.7% of Dream Teams, making him the fifth-most popular defender in the game.
His form was good enough prior to the World Cup and at one stage he was the outright best asset in his position.
His current tally of 99 points is only bettered by five other defenders: Gabriel (£4.4m), Dan Burn (£4.9m), Sven Botman (£4.7m), Fabian Schar (£5m) and Kieran Trippier (£6.6m).
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Last season, Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.3m) was the only defender to outscore Cancelo and in 2020/21 the latter full-back was top of the pile.
It’s no exaggeration to say that City’s No7 has been both a Dream Team favourite and one of the game’s biggest success stories in recent times.
The seemingly rash nature of Cancelo’s exit from the Etihad suggests there may be unknown factors in the decision, perhaps he has fallen out with Pep Guardiola, but whatever the case it looks like plenty of Dream Team bosses will need to find a replacement as soon as possible.
Good job transfers are set to refreshed on Friday!