How Man City could raise over £200m to fund summer rebuild

Manchester City have just reached heights they have never reached before, lifting the treble and becoming Champions of Europe.

After finally winning the Champions League, they could lose their captain, two key defenders, and two world-class wingers. It’s hardly the ideal platform for defending those titles and going on to the Club World Cup.

However, City are being linked with incomings, too. They have interest in Declan Rice and Mateo Kovacic, while RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol is an option. Neither Rice nor Gvardiol would come cheap, though.

City will have unlocked various prize funds from winning the treble, but can also repeat their trick from last summer when they made a profit in the transfer market by selling Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Aleks Zinchenko among others.

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If they can get similar transfer fees for some of their wantaway players this summer, it could go a long way to funding the spending spree as Pep Guardiola tries to make his treble winners even better.

Starting with the names who could leave from the first team, Bernardo Silva’s name is never far from the transfer gossip columns as he seeks a move closer to home, or at least to a warmer climate. Barcelona have already admitted they cannot afford City’s asking price, and having played a key role in winning the treble, surely City would ask for a minimum of £60m, if not more.

Another who would command a high asking price is Aymeric Laporte, who despite falling out of favour remains Spain’s first choice at centre-back and has two years left on his contract. City are interested in Gvardiol of RB Leipzig, which would give Laporte another centre-back to compete with, and Laporte admitted he has been unhappy with his lack of playing time. Given his status, he would be another to surely command a fee of over £50m.

Bayern Munich had an option to buy Joao Cancelo for around £60m after his loan spell, but look unlikely to take that up. So if that is City’s asking price, he may further boost the transfer fund. If there are fewer interested clubs, Cancelo’s asking price may drop, although he remains a world-class full-back so City will be sure not to undervalue him, and he has a long-term contract until 2027.

It could be that Bayern say no to Cancelo but yes to Walker, and the England right-back would be another to earn a fee with a year left on his contract. Whether it is as much as the £50m it cost to buy him from Tottenham is another question, and his age may see that value drop.

Similarly, Riyad Mahrez has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia after falling out of the City starting lineup for the big games. Six months younger than Walker, he will be 33 next season and has two years left on his contract. He would command a fee if he left this summer, but not to the extent of the £60m he cost from Leicester.

Another linked with a potential exit is Kalvin Phillips, who has so far failed to live up to his £45m transfer from Leeds last summer. He will be keen to prove his worth, and City would likely want to recoup their outlay if he was to leave.

Into the academy, and 29-goal winger Carlos Borges has been mentioned as a possible sale, with a fee of around £11m reported and Nottingham Forest linked. Decisions will also have to be made over the likes of English trio Liam Delap, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Tommy Doyle. Last summer, City earned almost £50m from the academy.

It’s unlikely that all of the senior players mentioned will leave, and each will have a different asking price due to the various factors around their individual situations. If City do want to raise some money, however, they have more than enough options to generate hundreds of millions if needed.

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