Manchester City have excelled when selling players for high fees over the past decade or so.
Gabriel Jesus, Cole Palmer, Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling and most recently Julian Alvarez all fetched fees in excess of £40 million for Manchester City over the past five years.
However, another player aside from those names who Pep Guardiola moved on has arguably turned out to be the best sale in Man City’s recent history.
The business model at the Etihad has shifted from outspending every other club in order to achieve success to one that relies more on balancing the books.
That’s not to say that Pep won’t be making blockbuster signings anymore. The Man City manager did exactly that in the January window, and is targeting moves for big names like Florian Wirtz in the summer.
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
However, in order to help facilitate those kind of deals, the reigning Premier League champions will have to get rid of some big names as well.
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The Man City owners should take inspiration from an absolute masterclass of a sale they oversaw back in 2022.
£46 million Ferran Torres sale was a Manchester City miracle
It was three years ago when City sold Torres to Barcelona for £46 million (ESPN).
That represented around a £26 million profit on what Pep paid to bring him to the club from Valencia just 18 months previously.
The lack of minutes Ferran Torres was given for Manchester City eventually contributed to his exit.
At the time, many believed that Pep had given up too quickly on the Spain international.
The 25-year-old showed glimpses of his ability during his 18-month spell at The Etihad.
Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
However, his performances for Barcelona over the past three years point to the fact that Man City absolutely nailed it by selling him for the fee that they did.
Ferran Torres’s Barcelona woes, stats make for grim reading
Despite a recent resurgence under Hansi Flick at Barca, the 25-year-old’s spell at the Camp Nou has been largely underwhelming.
He has bagged just 36 goals in 143 games for Barcelona since January 2022 (Transfermarkt).
Torres has been the target of fierce criticism from fans and pundits alike since joining the Spanish giants (Barcelona Noticias).
He actually came out fighting in December 2023, and responded to his critics, as quoted by ESPN:
“People on the outside try to destroy us, to make us nervous, but we will turn things around. There is always a lot of external noise, but we have to live with that.“
The Spaniard can talk all he likes, but it is his actions on the pitch that really matter, and he certainly hasn’t pulled up any trees with Barcelona.
Whilst Ferran Torres is certainly not a bad player, Manchester City clearly worked wonders by selling him for £46 million.
And they will need to rediscover some of that magic again this summer, with some big sales required.