
2. Age and hunger
When Arsenal bought Jesus and Zinchenko, they had just turned 25 and neither had ever fully cemented their role as a guaranteed starter at City, so they were full of hunger to prove themselves as leaders and star players.
Cancelo on the other hand is soon to be 29 and was almost guaranteed starter for City, and one of their star players before the bust-up.
🗣️| Dean Jones on Arsenal and Joao Cancelo: “I think when we first did the Cancelo story a little while back, it was loose at that point. It was just being tentatively put out there that he could become an option for Arsenal.
— Arsenal Buzz (@ArsenalBuzzCom) May 16, 2023
“Since then, there has been some momentum gathered… pic.twitter.com/976bbepeEk
At Arsenal, he would expect the same, which could lead to tensions with Zinchenko and affect the harmony within the squad.
This doesn’t mean that competition isn’t healthy. It is crucial to squad growth, but a player like Cancelo on huge wages after joining for a big transfer fee wouldn’t be coming in to compete, he’d be coming in expecting and demanding to start and could cause trouble if he didn’t.
Continued to next slide…