BERLIN: Bayern Munich have signed Portugal wing-back Joao Cancelo on loan until the end of the season from Manchester City, the German club confirmed on Tuesday.
Bayern have an option to buy the Portuguese defender for a reported 70 million euros ($75 million) at the end of the season.
Cancelo, who has scored seven times in 41 appearances for Portugal, arrived in Munich on Monday and completed a medical on Tuesday for a move that could spell the end of France international Benjamin Pavard’s time at Bayern.
The 28-year-old Portuguese defender joined City from Juventus for 65 million euros ($70 million) in 2019 and has a contract with the English champions until 2027.
“FC Bayern is a great club, one of the best in the world, and it’s enormous motivation for me to now play alongside these extraordinary players in a team,” Cancelo said in a statement released by the club on Tuesday.
“I know that this club, this team lives for titles and wins titles every year. I’m also driven by the hunger for success.”
Cancelo has won multiple titles throughout his career, including league titles with Benfica, Juventus and Man City.
Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said the club “had been thinking about (Cancelo) for a while” before making its move.
“He’s the optimal fit in our system with his attacking style of play and dynamism, and his mentality and experience fit very well in our team.
“I’m convinced Joao will help us in the coming weeks and months where we want to win titles.”
Bayern secured the deadline-day signing after Cancelo, who has been named in the Premier League Team of the Year for the past two seasons, has fallen out of the Man City first team in recent weeks.
Manager Pep Guardiola has left Cancelo out of the starting line-up in each of the team’s last three games, with academy graduate Rico Lewis, alongside Nathan Ake, Kyle Walker and John Stones all preferred to Cancelo.
Cancelo could make his Bayern debut in the club’s German Cup match away against Mainz on Wednesday, or in their away Bundesliga clash with Wolfsburg on Sunday.
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