Jamie Gittens
Jamie Gittens has followed a familiar path from the Manchester City academy to Chelsea
For once, Manchester City won't profit from a transfer deal involving Chelsea, with no sell-on clause in the deal that took Jamie Gittens from the Etihad to Borussia Dortmund five years ago.
Gittens has completed a £48.5million move from the Bundesliga side to Stamford Bridge, with a further £3.5million in add-ons, but on this occasion, none of that will go to , who have become masters at profiting from sell-on clauses in recent years.
That includes making around of other City academy alumni, Romeo Lavia and Liam Delap. They also sold Cole Palmer directly to the London club for £42.5million.
Even without the financial bonus, Gittens' return to the Premier League at the age of 20 is a sign of the rude health of City's academy. They continue to produce outstanding footballers, and Stamford Bridge is as big a showcase as that for the Etihad at the moment.
Gittens will join Lavia, 21, Palmer, 23 and 22-year-old Delap as recent City graduates now trying to make an impact at Chelsea. Palmer has certainly done that, and Lavia has impressed, only for fitness issues to hold him back. Delap moved to Stamford Bridge this summer after an impressive season at Ipswich Town. In a slightly older age bracket, there is Tosin Adarabioyo, 27.
After becoming the latest former City youngster to move to Chelsea, Gittens revealed his former youth colleagues had been giving him the hard sell.
“I had a couple of text messages from Cole [Palmer] telling me to come, and the same from Liam [Delap]. Both were eager for me to join," he said.
But the connections go beyond the former City players now plying their trade for Chelsea. Enzo Maresca's presence as head coach was influential in convincing Liam Delap to pick London from his long list of suitors this summer, having been coached by the Italian for City's Under-21 side.
Then there is Joe Shields. Chelsea's co-director of recruitment and talent spent nine years at City in various youth roles from 2013 to 2022, ending up as the head of academy recruitment and talent management. He has the inside track on many of these players and is putting his connections to good use.
With Gittens' arrival, there will be even more familiar faces in the Chelsea ranks next season. The two teams don't meet until January next season, but they will know plenty about each other.
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