Perhaps at certain moments in his career he hasn’t shone for consistency, but it is clear that Joåo Cancelo must be considered a full-back of great quality, one of the strongest of our time. Simply put, it’s the teams he has played for that say it: after his youth career at Benfica, the move to Valencia, and a season on loan at Inter, the Portuguese started a Grand Tour that touched Turin and Juventus, Manchester (City side), Munich (of course Bayern side), and finally Barcelona. Then came an irresistible offer from Al-Hilal, Saudi Arabia, but then Barça and Flick reconsidered him. The return to Catalonia, four months ago on loan, led Cancelo to win La Liga as a protagonist: 10 games as a starter and 13 overall from January to today, with one goal scored and three assists provided. Not bad, really not bad, for a player who spent two years out of elite football.
The point is that this success in La Liga, which came thanks to a historic victory in the Clásico against Real Madrid 2-0, has transformed Cancelo into the first player in history capable of winning four of the five top leagues in Europe, namely La Liga, Serie A, Premier League, and Bundesliga. The exact chronological order, in his case, would be this: Serie A (Juventus 2019), Premier League (Manchester City 2021, 2022), Bundesliga (Bayern Munich 2023), and finally La Liga (Barcelona 2026). It is not a clean sweep of the five major European leagues, of course, Ligue 1 is missing, but it remains a respectable record. Especially because, as mentioned, no one has ever achieved this.
From here arises the question: which player, instead, has “stopped” at three championships won (obviously looking at the top leagues) in three different countries and, for a few hours now, no longer holds this record? Answer: Kingsley Coman, Arjen Robben, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Maxwell, Dani Alves, Arturo Vidal, David Beckham, Thiago Motta, Cristiano Ronaldo, Sami Khedira, Lucas Hernández, Martín Demichelis, Thierry Henry, Claude Makélélé, Eden Hazard. There are quite a few names, some very important, yet none have done what Cancelo has done in the last seven years. It may seem like a coincidence, but in reality, as mentioned, we are talking about a solid defensive player, with important qualities. It is inevitable to think this way, notwithstanding personal opinions, also because otherwise he wouldn’t have played, almost always as a protagonist, in such strong teams. And, above all, he wouldn’t have won with such consistency, wherever he has set foot.