Micah Richards says he doubted Manchester City player who’s perfect for Pep Guardiola

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Manchester City full-back Joao Cancelo has been praised by Micah Richards, who admits he “was wrong” about him when he arrived at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola signed the Portugal international in 2019 from Juventus, the Citizens paying £27.4million plus Danilo in a part-exchange deal.

The total valuation of the deal stood at £60million in total, making Cancelo the most expensive player ever in his position.

The 26-year-old has gone on to make 74 appearances for City, including 41 this season, of which 26 have been in the Premier League and nine have been in the Champions League.

At first, Richards saw “nothing spectacular” from Cancelo – bearing in mind how high the bar had been set by Liverpool’s full-backs – and wasn’t convinced by his abilities going forward.

“With (John) Stones, Aymeric Laporte and Joao Cancelo, he now has several defensive playmakers to call upon,” Richards wrote on BBC Sport.

“And with Cancelo I think he has found the player who has perfected the role of a full-back in a Pep Guardiola team.

“When Cancelo joined City in August 2019, in a player-plus-cash deal with Juventus that saw Danilo move the other way, he was valued at £60million and that seemed a lot.

“He was clearly an accomplished player but seemed nothing spectacular. When you consider the waves that Liverpool’s full-backs were making around that time, I wasn’t convinced by him going forward. I was wrong.

“Cancelo does not have the same pace or defensive capabilities as Kyle Walker, City’s other right-back, but when he comes inside and into midfield, he has the passing ability to help control the game and open the opposition up from there.

“He looks so effortless while he is doing it too. He’s operating in the middle of the pitch, not out on the flanks, but he always seems to have so much time and space on the ball.”