Arsenal still have an opportunity to sign a third player from Manchester City this summer after Mikel Arteta previously brought two players he formerly coached to the Emirates in Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko. The Gunners were hoping to nab Ilkay Gundogan as he pondered over his options as a free agent, but the former City captain opted to leave for Barcelona instead.
Arteta saw Gundogan as a midfield option that could complement Declan Rice, who they are in competition with City for in a deal that could reach £100million. The German may have decided to leave the Premier League but there is a very real opportunity for Arteta to continue the raid on his former club.
Joao Cancelo has been deemed surplus to requirements at the Etihad and has been the subject of interest from Arsenal previously. The Portuguese full-back spent the second half of last season on loan at Bayern Munich having fallen out of favour with Guardiola, but the German side did not opt to activate the option to sign him permanently.
Arsenal had reportedly opened talks to sign Cancelo as he remains out of the picture at City, with Barcelona also interested in his signature. The Gunners’ advancing a deal for Jurrien Timber of Ajax could quell their hopes of Cancelo, however, as the pair are likely both viewed as an inverted full-back in Arteta’s system.
The Spanish boss has never failed to hide his tactic of looking to City for his newest Arsenal stars. During an interview with Spanish outlet Marca, Arteta was asked about why Arsenal are interested in so many top City players and responded: “Easy, because they are very good, I know them and I trained them for four years. I wanted Gabriel Jesus and Zinchenko for their amazing talent but also for their ‘human’ skills.
“We have already regenerated the squad, with a very young average that will generate performance and value. We have owners who are aligned with us: to build a winning team that can be sustained over time, without too much investment. But the demands are increasing and we have to go to the market to find what we don’t have to keep improving.”
Guardiola was forced to correct Barcelona boss Xavi after the club legend’s claim that they would not let Cancelo leave for Spain in January, in a telling comment that suggests how desperate they may be to find a new home for the defender this summer. “He [Xavi] has been misinformed,” Guardiola told Sport.
“He is far from reality. We decided that Joao had to leave and we didn’t care where, as if he wanted to go to Manchester United, who are the city rivals.
“I’m not saying Xavi was lied to, but I’m saying he was misinformed. Joao went to Bayern because Bayern wanted him. We didn’t get an offer from Barca.”
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