Arsenal appears to have already taken a step towards signing him, making him one of their top targets for this summer.
Fabrizio Romano stated as much in an interview with GIVEMESPORT on the Arsenal’s pursuit of Manchester City striker Joao Cancelo.
“For Cancelo, yes, they are interested,” he replied. They interacted with these agents, and their relationship with them is excellent. As a result, the prospect of signing Cancelo was discussed.
While Bayern Munich decided not to exercise the €70 million (£60 million) buy option they had in his loan agreement, the treble-chasing team is allegedly now willing to drop that price to roughly €40 million (£34 million). Both Barcelona and Mikel Arteta have been made aware of this, which might result in an intriguing matchup this summer.
Joao Cancelo, would he work in Arsenal’s system?
While Ben White and Bukayo Saka have a strong defensive pairing down the right side, with the latter being supported by White’s sole focus on defence, the Citizens have shown that offence is frequently the strongest form of defence.
Their all-out approach chokes the ball of the opposition, and their unrelenting waves of attack nearly always succeed.
Therefore, by pairing up two players of such exceptional skill, the Portugal international will, at the at least, almost assure success in the final third, replacing the former Brighton and Hove Albion center-back.
According to Sofascore, Saka had 15 goals and 11 assists the previous season while Cancelo had seven assists along with 1.1 critical passes and 2.3 tackles per game the year before.
He manages to maintain his status as the “playmaker” that Rio Ferdinand dubbed him back in 2021 while not fully sacrificing stability to be a significant creative influence.
bukayo-saka-arsenal
He started 36 league games that season because to his mastery of the inverted full-back position under Pep Guardiola, and when he moved to the Emirates, he was able to impose a significant defensive reorganisation that would make them more stable, stronger in depth, and more effective in attack.
White could move over to replace William Saliba as a more proficient backup, and by positioning the 29-year-old on the opposite flank from Oleksandr Zinchenko, they would really emphasise total control throughout the entire game.
However, Saka and a handful of clever leaders to overload one side would surely make for the most entertaining combo. They both have speed and vitality, but technical skill that is above average for their positions.
Every left back in the nation would be terrified of this pairing, and Guardiola is probably concerned about how powerful he is making his nearest competitor.
