“I’m not saying that!” – Pep Guardiola opens up on whether Joao Cancelo’s Man City exit is a sign of things to come

Pep Guardiola has insisted that conversations will happen with a number of first-team Manchester City players at the end of the ongoing season.

The latest comments from the Catalan coach come just days after Joao Cancelo put pen to paper on a six-month loan deal with Bayern Munich – who will also have the option to sign the City full-back in a €70 million deal this summer.

That exit has seen some supporters hold concerns as to whether more players could seek moves away from the club during the coming summer transfer window, as Pep Guardiola continues to rotate his squad and hand players more restricted game time than perhaps they are used to.

Speaking ahead of his side’s latest Premier League encounter on Sunday afternoon, Guardiola has been asked whether he, or those in transfer-focussed positions, will speak to players regarding their futures over the course of the coming months.

“After what happened with Joao (Cancelo), it looks like everyone is going to leave. I’m not saying that,” Guardiola insisted. “At the end of the season, every season is the same, we’re going to talk with many players. That’s happened since we arrived.”

“Maybe next season we’ll continue with absolutely all the players (we have at the moment), and in come new ones, or no. I don’t know! When you asked me about Joao, myself too, whatever – nobody knows what’s going to happen.”

“Now we have four months ahead of us, now the transfer window is over. Focus on this four months that’s left, and after we’ll see what’s going to happen. I don’t know what’s going to happen with any single player, honestly.”

But despite leaving Manchester City in what appeared to be quite a hurry on transfer deadline day, and relations between the Portugal international and some within the club becoming strained, some continue to ask the question whether he could yet make a return to the club from next season.

Pep Guardiola has remained tight-lipped on the subject, and referred to the general conversations that Manchester City will have with other members of their squad as to whether they stay or seek moves away.

“Now he (Joao Cancelo) is there (at Bayern Munich), and we will see what happens next season,” the City boss insisted. “At the end of the season, we will talk many, many things with many, many players. So, we will see.”

Featuring in his first game for the Bundesliga giants on Wednesday night, it took Joao Cancelo just 17 minutes to register his first goal contribution under Julian Naglesmann, securing an assist against Mainz in the DFB-Pokal.

While Cancelo will almost certainly be missed at Manchester City during the second-half of the ongoing season, the belief at the Etihad Stadium is that through the presence of Sergio Gomez, Aymeric Laporte, and Nathan Ake, Pep Guardiola is not short of options in the left-back role.

Over at right-back, the emergence of 18 year-old Rico Lewis has been a significant moment for the club this season, as the Academy product has kept Kyle Walker out of the majority of matches for Manchester City after the World Cup.

Lewis, Walker, plus the likes of Manuel Akanji and John Stones – who is currently out for up to a month due to injury – are expected to be the main choices for the right-back role across the remainder of the campaign.