Manchester City looking to bank £100m in transfer deals even before selling star names

Manchester City are in line to raise around £100 million through transfer deals this summer before the potential sale of any senior players.

The Premier League champions took their close season transfer income past the £50m mark on Friday night with academy graduate Lukas Nmecha completing an £11.2m move to Wolfsburg. City are reported to have negotiated a sell-on clause entitling them to 15 per cent of the profit on any future sale of the striker.

City have already sold Jack Harrison and Angelino to Leeds United and RB Leipzig for £13m and £16m respectively this summer and netted £11.2m in sell-on fees and solidarity payments from their former winger Jadon Sancho’s £72.9m move to rivals Manchester United from Borussia Dortmund.

But City stand to double that £50m figure before the transfer window closes at the end of next month even if no one was to depart from Pep Guardiola’s established first-team squad.

Midfielders Yangel Herrera, Ivan Ilic and Morgan Rodgers and defender Pedro Porro could all be sold this summer in deals that could fetch an additional £50m. Former England Under-20 winger Patrick Roberts, 24, may also depart.

Herrera, a Venezuela international who joined City from Atletico Venezuela in 2017, has enjoyed a successful past two seasons on loan at Granada and is attracting interest from Spain as well as Crystal Palace, Southampton and West Ham United in the Premier League.

The 23 year-old - who is valued at up to £20m - previously spent a season on loan at New York City FC, one of Manchester City’s many sister clubs in the City Football Group stable.

Porro, a 21-year-old right back who has been capped at senior level by Spain and is valued at £15m, was signed in 2019 from Girona, the Spanish club who are now part of the CFG empire. Porro impressed on loan at Sporting Lisbon last season and could yet move there permanently.

Ilic has attracted interest from Italy and could also fetch £15m after the 20-year-old Serbia defensive midfielder proved a hit on loan at Hellas Verona in Serie A last season. He previously spent a season on loan at NAC Breda, with whom City struck a working partnership in 2016.

City bought Rogers from West Bromwich Albion for around £7m in 2019 and the 18-year-old midfielder could depart for at least £10m this summer.

The situation provides further vindication of City’s business model of acquiring emerging talents from across the globe and allowing them to gain experience within the CFG pool, other clubs they have partnered with or elsewhere before selling them for bigger fees down the line.

Despite the huge cash windfall City expect to generate through such deals this summer, it is expected the champions will still need to offload a senior player or two if they are to stand a realistic chance of landing both Harry Kane and Jack Grealish, who combined could cost in excess of £200m.

In addition to financing the large fees, City would also have to find space on their wage bill - which had already jumped 11 per cent to £351m for the 2019/20 season - to accommodate big earners such as Kane and Grealish.

Midfielder Bernardo and defenders Aymeric Laporte and Benjamin Mendy are among a number of high-profile City players who have been linked with potential moves away. But those clubs who could afford hefty fees and wages for such players are likely to be few and far between this summer given the way the coronavirus pandemic has hit income streams across football.

England forward Raheem Sterling - who has entered the final two years of his contract - is due to be offered a new deal and Riyad Mahrez, who also has two years to run on his contract, wants to stay.

“What if I want to go higher? I do not see what is higher [than City],” the Algeria winger, 30, said this week. “I really love England and English football is wonderful. I don’t want to leave. I still have goals to pursue here.”

Meanwhile, CFG have raised $650m (£470m) in one of football’s biggest ever debt deals as it prepares for further investment in its international stable of clubs.

The seven-year loan arrangement has been underwritten by Barclays and is larger than the €525m debt refinancing agreement that Barcelona struck with Goldman Sachs in June.

HSBC and KKR Capital Markets will help arrange and distribute the debt, with CFG intending to use the money to help fund infrastructure projects across the group. These are expected to include a planned new stadium for New York City FC, their MLS franchise.