We didn’t refuse anything! Xavi was given bad information, Guardiola reacts to Cancelo’s potential transfer to Barcelona

Joao Cancelo has to go, that’s the message from Pep Guardiola to current Barcelona coach Xavi. The latter, according to the Citizens coach, did not receive the correct information about Cancelo’s potential transfer to Camp Nou.

Cancelo arrived at Manchester City in August 2019, for €65 million from Juventus. Over the next two years, he became one of the Premier League’s best right-backs, but at the end of January this year, the Citizens sent him on loan to Bayern.

Cancelo is expected to return to Manchester in a few days, but according to the latest reports, the current City coach is not counting on him.

Barcelona have previously expressed interest in the services of the twenty-nine-year-old Barreiro native, but no deal has been reached yet. This is due to the fact that Xavi has reportedly been informed of the rejection of his transfer.

However, Guardiola has now refuted this. “I think they informed him very badly. It’s far from reality. The reality was that we decided he had to leave and we didn’t care where he went, even if he wanted to go to United, which is our rival,” Guardiola said in an interview with MD, whose words were quoted by Football España.

“From there it’s up to the agent and the club to agree. I’m not going to say they cheated him, but that they misinformed him,” Guardiola added.

The Manchester City coach then went on to clarify that they did not prevent Cancel’s transfer. He said there was no need for the club to do so.

Guardiola further added that his club had not received any official offer from Barcelona. Thus, according to him, there is no fault on Manchester side.

Cancelo played 154 matches in the jersey of the famous English club, in which he scored 9+22.

Sources