‘Wow’: Manchester City star blown away after hearing Pep’s ‘extraordinary’ comparison

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Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo has been blown away after hearing just how highly boss Pep Guardiola rates him amid comparisons to Philipp Lahm.

City are back in Champions League action tonight as they play the second leg of their knockout clash with Sporting.

Despite being 5-0 up from the first leg, Guardiola will be expecting high standards from his City side throughout tonight’s game.

Portuguese star Cancelo could feature against Sporting, but you could hardly blame Guardiola for resting him tonight either.

Cancelo has become an absolutely vital player for City this season, starring whether deployed at left back or right back.

That versatility is always key under Guardiola, and we have seen other full backs becoming key under Guardiola in the past too.

Philipp Lahm fits the bill, with Guardiola using his versatility to play Lahm at right back or in midfield at Bayern.

Guardiola now thinks Cancelo is just as good as Lahm, and who can rule out the Portuguese star switching to play in midfield down the line too?

Cancelo certainly has the technical and athletic ability for such a role, and we could see Guardiola deploy him there in the future.

Cancelo has now been asked just what he thinks of Guardiola putting him on par with the German World Cup winner.

Four Four Two (April 2022, p54) put the question to Cancelo, and the City star admitted he never saw a comparison like that coming.

Cancelo admitted that he has spoken to Ilkay Gundogan about Lahm, who was billed as ‘extraordinary’.

Cancelo added that he thinks Lahm is up there with Dani Alves, Cafu and Maicon as the best right backs of all time, so being likened to one of them is a huge compliment from Guardiola.

“Wow, I never saw that sort of praise coming!” said Cancelo. “I talk to Ilkay Gundogan and others who’ve worked with Lahm, and they all say he was extraordinary and made football look easy. Besides Dani Alves, Cafu and Maicon, Lahm is one of the greatest right backs of all time,” he added.