Latest reports suggest that Man City youngster Max Alleyne is set to sign for Championship side Burnley on a season-long loan. The 21 year old centre half spent time on loan at Watford last season, before being recalled by Pep Guardiola to cover City's defensive injury crisis.
Alleyne did well, generally speaking. He's calm on the ball, has great distribution and was a presence in both boxes (remember his FA Cup debut goal against Exeter City?).
There were doubts, though, surrounding Alleyne after a poor performance in the Champions League against Bodo/Glimt. True, the young centre half was at fault for two of the Norwegian side's goals, but City were pretty poor in that one all over the pitch. To put fault squarely on Max Alleyne's shoulders for the defeat was harsh.
Lessons learned for Alleyne for sure, and lessons he'll take to Burnley should the move go through. Max Alleyne is arguably sixth or seventh choice in City's defensive list and unlikely to ever be called upon should he remain at the club for the 26/27 season.
And, in all honesty, it's doubtful Alleyne really has a future at Man City. There's no doubting his talent, which is plentiful, but he's far behind City's other young defenders in Abdukhodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis, let alone the experienced heads of Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and Mar Guehi.
So, a good move all round for me. Burnley get a young defender eager to learn, who has already shown he can excel in the Championship, Alleyne gets the opportunity for regular first team football and Man City could potentially benefit from a decent fee should a permanent transfer come next summer.
Good business by Man City, yet again.
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