Manchester City player Joao Cancelo believes that he is no longer one of the best full-backs in the world, after making the admission in a new interview.
Cancelo is now into the final part of his season-long loan move to Barcelona.
The 29-year-old joined the club on transfer deadline day last summer, with the player seemingly having no future back at the Etihad Stadium.
Cancelo reportedly fell out with Pep Guardiola over game time midway through the 2022/23 season, and went on loan to Bayern Munich in January. The situation was not smoothed over in the summer, and Cancelo departed once again ahead of the current campaign.
Now, he’s conducted a new interview – and made a somewhat surprising admission…
Manchester City player Joao Cancelo no longer considers himself among the best full-backs in the world
Cancelo – who recently confirmed his desire to join Barca permanently – has done a new interview with SPORT and was asked about how he sees himself at the moment.
A few years ago, Cancelo was undoubtedly one of the game’s best full-backs.
There were question marks over his defending, but his output at the other end of the pitch was always so impressive that many still thought he was one of the very best in his position.
The fact he was playing on both sides also arguably boosted his profile.
This term Cancelo has not quite reached those levels, and the Portugal international feels he is no longer one of the very best, saying (via SPORT): “There were times when I did feel that way, now I don’t.”
A surprising remark
It is quite surprising to hear this from Cancelo, whom Barca were recently said to be ‘increasingly confident’ of signing permanently.
Clearly, he feels as though his level has dropped in recent times for Barcelona, and is not willing to categorise himself among the top full-backs right now.
Certainly, Cancelo has had some poor outings this season while on loan at Barca. After the 5-3 defeat to Villarreal, he branded himself a ‘disaster’.
But the star still brings a lot to the table from an offensive standpoint. If he can just bring his defending up to scratch, then he can definitely consider himself a top full-back in the game again.