Joao Cancelo is set to make a shock loan move to Bayern Munich from Manchester City – and the development might have significance for Wolves.
The Portugal international is leaving the Etihad Stadium, after reportedly falling out with Pep Guardiola.
Apparently, Cancelo has not been happy with the amount of game time he’s had recently.
The Daily Mail have reported that Cancelo had become disruptive, and that City were left with little choice but to get rid.
Bayern have an option to buy the player for £61 million at the end of the season.
This is a situation that has surprised a lot of people.
Not long ago, Cancelo was arguably one of the best full-backs in the world, and an undroppable player for City.
But things have completely changed. He hasn’t been in good form this season, and Guardiola has not been as reliant on him.
Seemingly he has not responded well to being dropped, and he’ll now turn out for Bayern.
So why might Wolves potentially be fearing City’s response to the situation?
Well, the Citizens have been linked with Rayan Ait-Nouri a couple of times in the past.
Last summer, The Athletic claimed he was on Guardiola’s transfer radar.
City were also linked with Ait-Nouri in the January 2022 window. Suggestions they were tracking Ait-Nouri dropped after the player had really shone in the game between the two teams at the Etihad Stadium.
Wolves may be fearing Manchester City coming in for Rayan Ait-Nouri after shock Joao Cancelo development
It says in the Daily Mail’s report that City are seeking a replacement for Cancelo.
They currently have Nathan Ake and Aymeric Laporte as options to play at left-back. But as good as they both are, neither player is a natural full-back. They do also have Sergio Gomez, but he hasn’t convinced.
There isn’t a lot of time left in the window, so it’s perhaps quite unlikely that City will be able to sign Ait-Nouri.
But potentially, they could come calling in the summer. Especially if Bayern do trigger that buy option on Cancelo.
Even if the German giants don’t do that though, the player has fallen out with Guardiola and it may be that City work to offload him anyway.
They’ll know Ait-Nouri has not been starting games for Wolves recently due to the emergence of Hugo Bueno. And they might just be looking at him a bit more now.