Joao Cancelo said that the issues he had with Pep Guardiola in his early days at Manchester City were his fault.
The Blues star signalled that he is now happy at the club by signing a contract extension aimed at keeping him until 2027, and he has emerged as one of the key players in the squad.
Benfica product Cancelo will renew hostilities with old Lisbon rivals Sporting in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie tomorrow night.
But in the first year-to-18-months of his career at City he was not getting in the team and Guardiola has admitted that the two men did not see eye to eye.
The manager shouldered the responsibility for that, saying he had not understood the way Cancelo worked, but the player said the issues were all on him.
“There were complications with the coach, of the way the team were playing,” he said. “I had a different way of playing at Juventus, I wanted to enjoy football and enjoy playing.
“It was my responsibility more than the coach, it was my fault. I recovered with my desire to win in life and in football.
“I'm happy and credit to me because there was a lot of desire to become the player I am today.”
Cancelo went on to credit Guardiola with adding another dimension to his game, after he honed his skills in Serie A.
“Italy was very important for my career, Inter and Juve, two huge clubs,” he said. “Pep has been huge tactically. Technically I have always been good, tactically I improved a lot in Italy. It was a time of learning, I liked living in Turin and Milan.”
Cancelo is one of three Benfica products in the City squad, along with Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva, but Cancelo says that will have little bearing on tomorrow night’s game.
“We put rivalry to one side,” he said. “Benfica is in my heart but I'm a City player. We always have a desire to win, every game I think this team with our squad has so much quality.
“We need to go into every big game looking to win. We know we're a big team and can beat any other team in the world.”
