Manchester City are currently focused on incomings but a number of players can help fund their new arrivals
Issa Kabore at Werder Bremen
Issa Kabore at Werder Bremen
Manchester City have gone big at the start of the summer transfer window. The Blues are expected to complete deals for three players for more than £100m that can come straight into Pep Guardiola's squad for the Club World Cup.
City generally like to do their transfer business early, although they have been stung into action by the circumstances around last season's disappointment and their participation in a summer tournament. Treating the Club World Cup as the start of the new campaign and a chance to put recent issues behind them, the ambition has been to immediately bring in players that can challenge for a starting place in Guardiola's team.
Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait Nouri and Rayan Cherki are all capable of doing that, and there may be more to come. As the summer goes on though, attention will start to turn to departures.
Jack Grealish will likely be the headline exit after four years at the club, although it remains to be seen if he will leave permanently or on loan. Kalvin Phillips is in the same boat, and there could be more first team exits.
Below that, City can expect the usual carousel of making money from players that haven't been around the first team. There will be sales from the academy, and there will also be money made from those who have been out on loan.
Top of that list should be Maximo Perrone. The 22-year-old midfielder has impressed out at Como in their impressive year in Serie A and is expected to make a £25m move to stay under Cesc Fabregas, even if there have been no recent updates on the move.
It's hard to believe Callum Doyle is still only 21, having spent the last four years on loan in the football league. That has included two promotions and one play-off final before a year at Norwich last season that ended in a mid-table finish.
Doyle has shown promise at centre-back and on the left and the next step for him looks to be a permanent move. Any sale would involve the usual performance-related clauses on top but City would hope for between £5m and £10m for a player with nearly 150 league appearances already.
Issa Kabore has played in the Premier League for Luton before spending last year with two less successful loans at Benfica and then Werder Bremen. The right-back has experience of three top leagues but with no talk of him stepping into City's right-back hole he should be in a similar bracket to Doyle.
Josh Wilson-Esbrand made his City debut in September 2021 but more recently he has been talked about in terms of filling homegrown quotas. His most recent loan at Stoke did little to move the dial and it feels like a permanent exit is best for everyone; an initial sale would likely be around a couple of million, with a high ceiling if he does hit it off at a new club.
Finally, there is Kyle Walker. City's captain for the first half of the season left for AC Milan in January and while the Italians refused to pay a permanent fee for him it looks like his race at the Etihad is run.
At 34, a high transfer fee is unlikely and it may well be that a few million is enough for everyone at City to move on - especially as it will get a high wage off the books.
Content Image
Content Image
---
Here at the Manchester Evening News, we’re dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester City coverage and analysis.
Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.
You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.
*And finally, if you’d rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Talking City podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.*