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Guardiola has given his verdict on Joao Cancelo deciding to leave Manchester City
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has spoken about the recent transfer saga involving Joao Cancelo and his own future at Manchester City, noting that things hardly ever stay the same in football.
‘We change, everyone changes’
Cancelo decided to move on to Bayern Munich after two successful years at Manchester City, and while fans and pundits debate over how rational it is to let a player of Cancelo’s quality leave the team, Guardiola is of the opinion that moves like that are part of football and there should not be so much drama about them.
Speaking in an interview ahead of Sunday’s game with Tottenham, Pep said, "It has happened. We change, everyone changes. It is normal. Most of the time it is the players who decide they want to leave. The club is always open to do it.
"Always, when they are not comfortable working with the manager, the staff, the club, the city, whatever, they have to try to move on.”
"We live many things together through the good moments and the bad moments. Those attachments are something special, of course. But at the end of the day, it is all part of it.”
Using himself as an example to buttress his points, the Manchester City gaffer spoke of his managerial career saying, "I was born in Barcelona. Barcelona is my everything. But I still left. And Barcelona had success after I left, Bayern Munich had success after I left. After I leave here, City will have success. It is part of life. I don't think it has to be a big drama."
How will Manchester City cope without Cancelo?
Guardiola also spoke about Manchester City’s perceived weakness and how much they were going to miss Cancelo, saying that he did not believe that the team were necessarily weaker without the full-back, and also gave some hints as to how the Cityzens plan to cope without him.
"For many years people say we are weaker. I know that expression. After we won the league with 100 points, people said we were weaker." He said, before adding "Firstly, I don't admit it. Secondly, if I did admit it I would be admitting that my players are not good enough. I never understand a manager who says his team are not good and they need seven new players.”
On who could potentially replace Cancelo in the first team, Guardiola mentioned summer signing Sergi Gomez as a possible candidate to take over from Cancelo, speaking on his ability to play on the outside rather than as an inverted full-back
"We have players who can come inside. Outside, maybe Sergio [Gomez] is the only one,"
Guardiola is however confident that City can move on from Cancelo at left-back especially if players are willing to sacrifice themselves a bit for the club.
"We played a holding midfielder, Fabian Delph, there and won 100 points. We played with Alex Zinchenko for many years in that position when he was a No 10. If everyone is open and everyone says they can do it then it is not a problem."
Guardiola’s task at hand is to catch Arsenal who are five points clear of Manchester City in the Premier League, and also perhaps deliver the club’s first-ever UEFA Champions League title this season.
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