Joao Cancelo completes permanent exit from Man City | OneFootball

Manchester City have confirmed the departure of full-back Joao Cancelo, who has joined Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal on a permanent transfer.

Cancelo hasn't played a competitive game for City since he very suddenly fell out of favour midway through the 2022/23 campaign and joined Bayern Munich on loan that January. The Portuguese then spent last season with Barcelona but returned to Manchester when that term expired.

Pep Guardiola hadn't ruled out Cancelo, who grew dissatisfied at his role amid rising competition from Nathan Ake and Rico Lewis, staying and being reintegrated this season, but a move to Al Hilal has now been finalised.

"I would like to wish everyone at City continued success in the future," said Cancelo after sealing what is reported to be a £21m switch. "I had many very special moments during my time here at this great Club.

"I would like to thank my team-mates, the coaches, all the staff at City and the fans for everything during my time here."

Cancelo is reportedly set to earn a net salary of €15m (£12.7m) per season for the next three years.

Joao Cancelo hasn't played for Man City in nearly two years / Visionhaus/GettyImages

City originally signed Cancelo from Juventus in a deal that included Danilo heading in the opposite direction, worth up to £60m in the summer of 2019.

At Al Hilal, he will link up with international teammate Ruben Neves and fellow Portuguese speakers Neymar, Malcom and Renan Lodi, playing under famed Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus.

Creating room for Cancelo, Saud Abdulhamid has made a historic transfer to Roma. It stands to make the 25-year-old, who was at the 2022 World Cup, the first ever player from Saudi Arabia to appear in one of Europe's top five leagues – Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga or Ligue 1. Historically, very few players from the oil-rich gulf nation have ever moved abroad.

Al Hilal walked the Saudi Pro League last season and are already top of the table again after securing a 3-0 win over Al Okhdood in their opening fixture on Saturday.