Arsenal have been short of right-backs ever since they released Héctor Bellerín and loaned out Cédric Soares in 2022, with Takehiro Tomiyasu being the only natural option in the first-team.
The 24-year-old wasn’t even in a regular last season, as the Gunners used Ben White in a makeshift role, so Mikel Arteta could be signing a tried and tested alternative this summer.
And while Arsenal have done a lot of business with Manchester City in the last 12 months, signing Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus, transfer expert Dean Jones believes they could make a move for Joao Cancelo.
The 29-year-old has an uncertain future at the Etihad Stadium after being loaned out to Bayern Munich due to poor form earlier in the season. Cancelo was alleged to have fallen out with Pep Guardiola, so he was granted a temporary move until the end of the campaign.
Cancelo was City’s star player in 2021/22, but the Sky Blues won the treble in his absence last season, rotating Manuel Akanji, Kyle Walker and Rico Lewis at right-back. Nathan Ake was a regular fixture on the left as Serio Gomez wasn’t deemed good enough to replace Zinchenko.
So City might let Cancelo leave, and Jones says Arsenal are interested in taking advantage. However, any move will have to wait until they complete a £150m double swoop for Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber.
Jones told Give Me Sport:
“Arsenal do still have an eye on Cancelo, but that one has to wait because they have enough on their plate to deal with at the moment. This is a big week for Arsenal, with deals for Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber to get over the line.”
Cancelo joined City from Juventus in 2019 and has gone on to make 154 appearances in all competitions, scoring nine goals with 22 assists. The Portuguese international was a regular until this season, losing his place early on due to inconsistent form, and he was unwilling to fight for his spot. Instead, Cancelo asked for a move away and had his request granted, so it’s hard to see how he comes back from that.
Arsenal may have to pay £34m to get City’s attention, but would Cancelo make the switch to North London? The Gunners are in the Champions League next season, but they fell by the wayside in the title race and haven’t won a trophy since 2020, so it’s not the best career move.
