Manchester City are used to players wanting to leave in the summer transfer window but this year have a different issue
Pep Guardiola, Head Coach of Manchester City, departs the pitch following the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group G match between City and Wydad AC
Pep Guardiola, Head Coach of Manchester City, departs the pitch following the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group G match between City and Wydad AC
Pep Guardiola
Every year Manchester City win lots and every summer their players are in demand. Plenty of them consider a new challenge and some of those leave with the blessing of the club, having brought a fee to the table that can be accepted.
That has been the circle of life at the Etihad for years. It has at times looked strange from the outside that the Blues would be willing to let anybody that wants to go - especially if you don't properly caveat that with 'for the right price' - but it is a strategy that has enabled the squad to naturally evolve and revolve without too much tension.
Last season City didn't win lots and this summer their players are still in demand. The difference, though, is that very few of them want to leave.
Decisions have already been made for Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish and Kalvin Phillips while James McAtee will almost certainly fall into that category after he plays in the final of the Under-21 European Championship. The club will also continue their pattern of generating funds through academy and emerging talent players.
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As far as Pep Guardiola's squad goes, however, none of the usual suspects look like moving. Ederson has become the latest to insist that he is staying despite more interest from the Saudi Pro League, and he follows John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Oscar Bobb in making a public pledge to stay.
Rather than the usual line for departures, everybody seems to be queueing up to stay. And while City have had to accept losing players that could have continued to do a job for them, now they have a different problem to solve.
This is not a club that likes to waste money, and while they have been able to move Kevin De Bruyne's wages off the books there is no guarantee that they will be able to completely free up Walker's and Grealish's next season given the possibility of loan deals. City will not want to be paying people who aren't really going to play.
The issue with that is that it isn't clear at this stage who would or wouldn't feature. Guardiola has spoken about the need to trim the numbers from the 27 who are out at the Club World Cup, but saying is a lot easier than doing.
The message has to be that however much everyone is happy to stay at the moment, they won't be when the season starts if they aren't playing or aren't registered for certain competitions. At the same time, there isn't a player in the squad who wouldn't back themselves to beat the competition - that is part of the reason why they are in the squad in the first place.
City will have to make the numbers add up by the end of the transfer window, but it is already a very different summer than they are used to.
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