Cancelo and Guardiola had a falling out, and he hasn’t played for City since January 2023. Later that month, he was loaned out to Bayern Munich and subsequently to Barcelona, where he has come under heavy fire for making prominent mistakes during the team’s losses to Real Madrid in La Liga and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

“We’ll see at the end of the season,” Guardiola told a press conference when asked whether Cancelo had a future at the club.

Cancelo’s tenure at City has been marked by three significant flashpoints. The Portuguese player vowed to quit the team shortly after coming from Juventus in 2019 because Guardiola thought Kyle Walker would be a better fit at right back. Txiki Begiristain, the sporting director, was given the mission of encouraging the player to participate more in training in 2020. Additionally, Cancelo allegedly began listening to music on his headphones during team meetings in late 2022 while Guardiola was speaking, demonstrating his lack of focus.

Cancelo signed a lucrative contract with City in 2022, 11 months before he was loaned to Bayern. He is still under contract at City until 2027. The Portuguese player’s loan agreement with Barcelona expires at the end of the current season, but he has stated that he would like to stay for an additional two or three years.

After Arsenal thrashed Chelsea 5-0 to increase their advantage at the top of the league, City will take on Brighton on Thursday in an attempt to retake control of the Premier League title chase. Guardiola stated: “I can’t think past Brighton, trying to figure out how they are. I know with Roberto how we need to find the weakness, it will be really tough, they’ll test us in ways we are not used to. We have to be strong – it might be the toughest game. not saying the others are not but the way they play is so difficult and we have to be ready.”