Joao Cancelo is the ‘best full-back in the world’ as Manchester City have helped him to overcome his ‘emotional instability’.
That’s according to Benfica technical coordinator Rodrigo Magalhaes, who believes the Portuguese star is has found the best place to express himself at the Etihad.
Cancelo joined Manchester City in a £49.5m deal from Juventus in the summer of 2019 in a deal that saw Danilo go the other way.
That’s a deal that’s worked out much better for City than Juventus, with Cancelo going on to establish himself as a star under Pep Guardiola’s leadership in the last few years.
He is now undeniably among the best full-backs in world football, with a long line of impressive performances for Manchester City playing as a right-back and a left-back.
He’s been in imperious form again this season, with nine assists and three goals in 45 games in all competitions so far.
It’s a deal Juventus more than regret doing at this point, but Magalhaes, who works for Benfica, the club Cancelo started his career with, believes his development is entirely because of Manchester City.
“Cancelo? I hear from him often, and I think, more than anything else, he has never really empathised with his new surroundings,” Il Bianconero report him saying.
“He did well at Juventus but did not express his full potential.
“His life has been strongly conditioned by the loss of his mother in an accident, and this has generated some emotional instability in him: he needs an environment around him that gives him certainty.
“Today at Manchester City, he is the best full-back in the world.”
