Selling stars – how Man City have turned player sales into big businesspublished at 10:38 GMT
10:38 GMT
Neil Johnston
BBC Sport reporter
Image source, Getty Images
Since Pep Guardiola took charge of Manchester City in 2016, Cole Palmer, Liam Delap, Brahim Diaz and Tosin Adarabioyo have also come through the ranks to play for the senior side before departing.
It is a ploy that has served City well and Oscar Bobb now looks set to join that list, should his move to Fulham go through.
According to Paul MacDonald from FootballTransfers.com, City have made more than £250m selling young players from their talent factory over the past five years alone.
Including sell-on fees, that figure is closer to £270m, he says.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz did not make a competitive appearance for the club before the then 21-year-old was sold to Aston Villa for £15m in 2019.
Jadon Sancho was sold to Borussia Dortmund for a reported £8m in 2017 before joining Manchester United for £73m just four years later, while Jeremie Frimpong was signed by Liverpool for £29.5m from Bayer Leverkusen last summer.
They have both gone on to make names for themselves after leaving City without making a first-team appearance.
Morgan Rogers, who joined City from West Brom at the age of 17 on a professional contract, was sold to Middlesbrough in 2023 and is now thriving for Aston Villa and England.
