Manchester City looking to aid their incomings with player sales

Money has been commonly associated with Manchester City ever since Sheikh Mansour and his United Arab Emirates team arrived into the north-west of England

Rival fans like to bring it up every time success is demonstrated at the Etihad but money can’t grow on trees, it also can’t grow in oil drums despite the team’s riches having profited from the country’s extraction fortunes.

Financial Fair Play has also had a major impact on the way Pep Guardiola can choose to build his squad with a careful amount of spending restricted by the club’s income. Paris Saint Germain is seeing that impact now while Saudi-owned Newcastle will soon limit their riches as they bid to return Champions League football up north.

A report in the Telegraph has claimed that the City hierarchy is planning to raise money for transfers by selling some squad players this summer, with a reported £200 million raised in funds from player exits.

Deals for Kalvin Phillips and Marc Cucurella are planned for the summer, however City will attempt to balance the books after already securing forwards Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez for a combined £65m.

So, who is likely to be sold and where does that money come from? Man City Square has already looked at the heavily rumoured departures and ranked their likeliness in a previous post.

Those players rated were Raheem Sterling, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus and Ilkay Gundogan with City unlikely to let all four leave this summer given the holes it will leave in the squad.

The Ukrainian and the Brazilian will be most likely to leave with strong interest from a number of clubs for the two players. Combined sales of those two could reach upwards of £80 million while a £50 million transfer of Raheem Sterling would more than likely be enough should he insist on not extending his contract past June 2023.

Bernardo Silva demonstrated a hint of a goodbye to Barcelona, but the Catalan giants spending power has been curtailed post the COVID-19 pandemic era. They would have to come up with a firesale of their own to register their new additions and an acceptable bid for the Portuguese playmaker.

Eddie Howe is looking for a reunion of his own at Newcastle with Nathan Ake high up on his wishlist with a bid of £45-50million acceptable; another player on the fringes that could drive up City’s year revenue.

In addition, players who have been out on loan previously could be used to ‘fill the coffers’ with Morgan Rogers, Ko Itakura, Arijanet Muric and Taylor Harwood-Bellis all potentially providing a tidy little sum.

Add all that up and you could be looking at potential profit for the season, especially if you count the exits of Ferran Torres, Pedro Porro and Gavin Bazunu – which is reportedly close to being completed.

Credit has to go to Txiki Begiristain and co for making Manchester City operate as a business and warrant the fortunes spent on the best players available.

The blue half of Manchester is certainly getting their football business in the right order and setting an example to those across the city.