Pep Guardiola Clears Path for Mikel Arteta to Secure £35m Manchester City Star for Arsenal

Manchester City star This summer, Mikel Arteta might sign a third Manchester City player in a year.

Arsenal’s chances of landing Joao Cancelo this summer have improved significantly after Manchester City raised their asking price. After being kicked out of Pep Guardiola’s side following the World Cup, the Portugal international joined Bayern Munich on a six-month loan in the January transfer window.

Cancelo’s loan stay in Germany has ended with the final match of the league season in both the Bundesliga and the Premier League this past weekend. A €70 million (£60.7 million) buy option was contained in the deal that saw him depart Manchester in January, but it will not be exercised by the German champions, allowing Cancelo to return to Manchester.

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Guardiola looks to have no intention of keeping him in the squad for next season, which opens the way for Cancelo to join the Gunners. Cancelo, as an inverted full-back, would be an ideal fit for Mikel Arteta’s tactical system, which depends heavily on a full-back moving inside and creating a possession overload in midfield.

Last summer, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus moved from Etihad Stadium to Arsenal, and Cancelo could follow suit in the forthcoming transfer window. Despite the €70 million (£60.7 million) buy option that Bayern might have exercised, City has reduced his asking price to half of that amount, according to a new report from Spanish outlet Sport.

They suggest that Guardiola will authorise a departure if an interested team pays €40 million (£34.7 million). Barcelona is also interested in signing Cancelo this summer, but FFP issues could hinder the La Liga winners from completing a deal.

According to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, despite Jesus and Zinchenko nearly helping Arsenal beat City to the title, Guardiola’s position on selling more of his players to the Gunners does not appear to have changed.

When asked about Guardiola’s thoughts on Cancelo, wettfreunde quoted him as saying, “I don’t think Guardiola is a coach who’ll say no, you don’t have to go there – because he’s superior.” He believes he is superior in any dynamic football circumstance.

“I don’t think he’d put a negative situation for him (Joao Cancelo) to go and I don’t think that Guardiola wants to say no to Arsenal or Arteta because he’s a big friend of Arteta. I don’t think he’ll say no.”

Along with Cancelo, another City standout of interest to the Gunners this summer is Ilkay Gundogan. The German’s contract expires next month, and if no extension is reached, he could go on a free transfer, with Barcelona also interested in signing him.