Man City are making progress in their negotiations to sign the incredible star that is the new Cancelo
The role and importance of the modern full-back is changing massively before our eyes, and quotes like “nobody wants to be Gary Neville” are starting to lose their meaning.
Top sides and coaches, largely due to Manchester City‘with Pep Guardiolathey start to use their wing players in different ways, on and off the ball, often becoming wings, central midfielders or even attacking midfielders (number 10) on the ball to help their team.
Tactical flexibility is becoming more and more important, and thus the importance of having high-quality and versatile full-backs is becoming a key factor in the performance of elite teams.
Guardiola has been at the forefront of using his full-backs in midfield, and he could land another special player this month with the skills to do so.
Man City are looking at their new Cancelo
According to reports Football InsiderIn recent days, talks between Manchester City and Juventus for their versatile defender, Andrea Cambiaso, have been progressing.
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The feeling is that a deal for the 24-year-old will be reached either this month or in the summer.
The Italian can play in a number of different positions, playing at right and left back, switching into midfield areas from this position and even starting as a right winger on several occasions this season for Thiago Motta’s Juventus side.
Cambiaso has he made 26 appearances for the Italian giants this seasonscoring two goals, providing two assists, contributing 12 clean sheets and playing a total of 1,859 minutes.
Comparison between Cambias and Cancelo
One player Guardiola has had in his time at Manchester City who has played a similar role to Cambiaso is João Cancelo. The Portuguese international signed for City in 2019, moving from Juventus for a a fee of around £60m.
Cancelo he made 154 appearances for City in his time at the clubscoring nine goals and registering 21 assists. Whether he started at left-back or right-back, the Portugal international offered Guardiola tactical versatility, changing his position on the ball to set up his team at will.
He was able to do just that now with Cambias, a player who has been compared to Cancelo Peter Young from Football Italia.
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Comparison of Andrea Cambiaso vs João Cancelo (2020/21). |
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|---|---|---|
|
Statistics (per 90 minutes) |
Cambiaso |
Cancelo |
|
Goals + Assists |
0.19 |
0.24 |
|
Progressive mounts |
3.68 |
2.88 |
|
Progressive passes |
4.75 |
7.86 |
|
pass % |
88.8% |
85.7% |
|
Key passes |
3.04 |
5.79 |
|
Passes into the Pen Area |
1.27 |
2.51 |
|
Moves to Pen Area |
0.39 |
0.37 |
|
Actions to create a shot |
3.33 |
3.07 |
|
Rotations + Intersections |
2.60 |
4.34 |
|
Ball recovery |
4.71 |
6.32 |
|
Statistics taken from FBref |
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When you analyze both players (Cancel’s 2020/21 season at City) you can see that both players exude class on the ball, offering excellent progressive numbers, are key creators despite being full-backs for their sides and still make plenty of defensive tackles action per match.
Cambiaso is described as “resistant to uber-press” by Ben Mattinson, due to his bipedal qualities (two-footed) and small turning radius. This allows him to receive the ball in all areas of the pitch, playing line-splitting passes with both feet, has no angled bias and therefore makes it difficult for defenders to catch him on one side.
City could finally replace Cancelo with an extreme technician in the form of Cambias, who, alongside Rico Lewis, could give Guardiola the wide defensive pair he wants to dominate games and make tactical changes at his leisure.
