Arsenal fear that Manchester City will be ‘reluctant’ to sell Joao Cancelo to the club this summer following the former’s emergence as title challengers this season.
Arsenal are interested in a deal to sign Cancelo, who was allowed to leave City on loan for Bayern Munich during the January transfer window. Bayern are not expected to take up the €70m option to sign the full-back on a permanent basis and that situation has alerted Mikel Arteta who is keen to strengthen his defensive options ahead of next season.
Takehiro Tomiyasu is expected to miss a significant part of next season after undergoing surgery and Kieran Tierney has been linked with an exit in search of more regular football, increasing Arsenal’s need for additions at full-back.
The Telegraph are reporting that Arsenal are fearful that City will be reluctant to do business with a direct rival.
Arsenal signed Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from the Premier League champions last summer and each have had a prominent role in Arsenal’s emergence as City’s closest challengers for the title this season.
City could be more reluctant to do business with the north Londoners this time around, with Cancelo having been one of the Premier League’s leading full-backs before falling out of favour under Pep Guardiola earlier this season.
The Portugal international was named in the PFA Team of the Year in 2020/21 and 2021/22 and has won league titles in Portugal, Italy and England. A Bundesliga title could follow this season with Bayern top of the table with two games remaining.
