Joao Cancelo is thrilled that he decided to stick it out at Manchester City as he credited the club for elevating his level.
City confirmed on Tuesday that Cancelo had signed a two-year contract extension to keep him on board until the end of the 2026-27 season.
Cancelo joined from Juventus in 2019, though the Portugal international initially struggled to nail down a regular spot in City's side.
Now, however, he is surely one of the first names on the team sheet. He was switched to left-back by Pep Guardiola last season and added an even more dangerous facet to City's attacking play.
While still being able to play at right-back, Cancelo often has the freedom to drift inside from the flank and add more numbers to City's midfield, with his passing range and eye for a blistering long-range shot useful from central positions.
"It makes all the sense to extend my contract with Manchester City," Cancelo told the club's official website.
"I have learned how to become a more versatile player. I feel I can play in different positions now, not only right-back or left-back.
"I feel I can play in several positions on the pitch, and I think [it] is easier in this team because of the quality all the players have. It's easier to play in this team than in any other team."
Cancelo conceded, however, that it was not all plain sailing, with the 27-year-old revealing he initially regretted his decision to leave Juve for City.
"In my first months, I wasn't extremely happy about my decision to join City," he explained.
"I came from a club that I also like a lot, Juventus. I spoke to my girlfriend, and we agreed that I had to make the best out of myself to be able to play.
"As of December [2019], January [2020] onwards, I started playing regularly so that makes a player happier. We players always want to play."
Cancelo made 33 appearances in all competitions in his first season at City, with that figure rising to 43 in 2020-21.
Having created one goal and scored another in 2019-20, Cancelo directly contributed to eight last season (five assists, three goals), while also providing three second assists (which Opta define as a pass or cross that is instrumental in creating a goal-scoring opportunity).
He already has eight assists to his name in 2021-22, and has scored three goals, while also helping City keep 12 clean sheets across the 30 matches he has featured in.
Cancelo has created 87 chances in the Premier League since making his debut, which ranks him eighth in terms of defenders, with Trent Alexander-Arnold (211) leading the way.
Among City players, only Kevin De Bruyne (759) has played more passes or crosses into the box than Cancelo (363) in the Premier League since the latter made his debut, while the Belgium playmaker is also the sole City team-mate to register more successful crosses from open play (39 compared to Cancelo's 27).
Cancelo ranks second in City's squad for tackles (151) and tackles won (92) and duels won (384), behind Rodri in every category.
Edwards urges Luton Town to ignore scrutiny on relegation battle
Rob Edwards is keen for Luton Town to ignore the scrutiny surrounding them in the relegation battle as they prepare for another big game against Wolves.
The Hatters sit one point from safety in the relegation zone after back-to-back 5-1 defeats against Manchester City and Brentford.
While Nottingham Forest also lost last weekend, being beaten 2-0 by Everton, Burnley beat Sheffield United to move them two points behind Luton.
Asked how he is handling the pressure of the relegation battle with only four games left, Edwards said: “The stakes are high already, we all know what it means and it's really important to everyone that's in this at the moment, a number of clubs that are still fighting to try and avoid it and be in the league next season, it's so important.
“Everyone wants to try and stoke the fire I think. We've got a title race on at one end and obviously, there's a relegation battle we're involved in. It's exciting, it's good that we're in the fight, and we've got a chance to get out of it, but really, all I am concerned about right now is our performance tomorrow.”
Glasner challenges Crystal Palace to extend winning run
Oliver Glasner is hopeful that Crystal Palace can maintain their recent winning run when they travel to Fulham on Saturday.
After a run of five games without a victory, the Eagles have won each of their last three games, beating Liverpool, West Ham and Newcastle United.
Their 2-0 win over the Magpies on Wednesday also secured their Premier League safety for another season.
Glasner has given credit to his team’s attitude in turning around their recent run of form but does not want them to slow down despite reaching their goal.
He said: “The players give us confidence because they are listening. Every day we were sitting here and having a meeting and showing them videos and nobody was sleeping, so that gives us good feedback!
"Now we have 39 points and I think it shouldn't be our target to say ‘39 points, oh well done, staying in the Premier League’ because then I would say 'come on guys, go wherever you want and take vacations' – but no.
"We want to improve, we want to win games, and we have the next chance tomorrow at Fulham."
Columbus Crew v CF Montreal: Nancy proud of resilient Champions Cup performance
Wilfried Nancy was delighted with the spirit and grit his Columbus Crew team displayed as they sealed a 2-1 CONCACAF Champions Cup win over CF Monterrey.
The Crew are in a great position to progress to the Champions Cup final after their first-leg win in midweek.
Now, Nancy will turn his focus to a league clash with his former club CF Montreal, but he stressed his pride with his team for their performance against Monterrey.
“I'm really proud of the guys,” said Nancy.
“Because we did a really good game in terms of when we had the difficult moments, we were together. And when we had the ball, we tried to play our game and we had good opportunities also, and we were able to unbalance them.
“We try to convince [the squad] that when we play high-level sport, it's a game of mistakes.
The idea is no matter what happened, can we find a way to bounce back? So we work on that during the practice, but at the end of the day, you have to live this situation. And I think that we've worked upon in the past. So now they’ve been better and the chemistry is better. And they were able to sort it out.”
The Crew are the reigning MLS Cup champions, though they have drawn their last three league fixtures.
While Columbus sit fourth in the Eastern Conference, Montreal are three points back in 10th place.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Columbus Crew – Cucho Hernandez
Hernandez scored his 34th MLS goal (including playoffs) in the Crew’s draw on Saturday. Only the Philadelphia Union’s Daniel Gazdag (36) has more goals than Hernández since he made his MLS debut in July 2022.
CF Montreal – Ariel Lassiter
Lassiter put CF Montreal ahead against Orlando on Saturday with an 88th-minute goal, only to see the Lions equalize in stoppage time. It marked just the second time in club history that Montreal scored a go-ahead goal after the 75th minute but failed to win the match, also doing so against the Fire in 2017.
MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS WIN
Montreal have lost 17 of their 25 away matches in all competitions (W5 D3) dating back to the start of last season, being outscored, 56-21, in those games.
Columbus are unbeaten in 17 straight regular-season home matches (W12 D5) following a pair of draws with D.C. United and the Portland Timbers. The only longer run in club history was a 22-match streak in 2008—09.
Columbus won both of their matches against Montreal last season after winning just two of the previous eight (D2 L4). Montreal (2-1 in August 2022) are one of two visiting teams to record a win at Lower.com Field since June 2022.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Columbus Crew – 56.4%
CF Montreal – 18.6%
Draw – 25%
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