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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Joe Bray

11 forgotten Man City players who could raise millions for transfer budget

Manchester City have already spent £65m in the transfer window and could spend more again after promising further incomings.

City always budget for the players they need, and are prepared to walk away from deals if a selling club asks for too much money. They didn't sign Harry Kane last summer, and previously walked away from trying to sign Harry Maguire when he went to Manchester United for £80m.

Any new players they sign will be within their budget, especially after selling Ferran Torres for £55m in January and getting £8m for Pedro Porro when Sporting made his loan permanent recently. City also have a number of other players on their books who could move on this summer to boost their budget and help their chances of adding any new players to the squad.

ALSO READ: Man City may be set for formation tweak and new partnership if Bernardo Silva joins Barcelona

We've looked at some of City's loan players who look unlikely to catch City's first team net season, so may look to leave permanently.

Ko Itakura

The Japanese centre-back could have joined Schalke on a permanent deal after a successful season on loan for around £5m, but the German club couldn't afford the pre-agreed fee. He is being linked with a number of other clubs, included Celtic, and could be set to leave City permanently with just a year left on his contract.

Daniel Arzani

Arzani's nightmare three years at City could end with a permanent deal away, although City may be lucky to command a fee for a player who has played just 27 games on loan since joining the Blues across four loan spells. A serious long-term injury at Celtic seriously hampered his progress, but 15 appearances at sister-club Lommel in 2022 could persuade someone he is worth a gamble.

Claudio Gomes

A player on the fringes of the City first team in 2020/21, Gomes has three senior appearances for City - including in the 2018 Community Shield - Gomes got some useful first-team experience on loan at Barnsley last season. However, in his 32 appearances for the Tykes, he couldn't prevent relegation from the Championship, and Romeo Lavia has since overtaken him back at City.

Maybe a permanent move away for the former PSG youngster could be best for all parties, especially with his contract expiring in 2023.

Iker Pozo

Pozo found himself in limbo last season after failing to secure a loan move away but generally being overlooked by the first team and EDS. A January switch to HNK Rijeka looked to be the kick-start he needed, but he suffered a season-ending injury without playing a game in Croatia and still looks to be recovering. Like his academy teammates above, a permanent exit when fully recovered may be in everyone's best interests.

Pablo Moreno

Striker Moreno, 20, who arrived from Juventus in 2020, has spent the last two seasons on loan at sister club Girona. His season ended this week as Girona secured play-off success to earn promotion back to La Liga, although Moreno ended the season goalless from 17 appearances - 16 coming off the bench.

Aro Muric

After playing an important role for City in 2018/19 as back-up goalkeeper and helping the Blues to a Carabao Cup success, Muric's career has stalled a little with ill-fated spells at Nottingham Forest and Girona in the following two years. He got more games at Willem in 2021, before a more productive season at Adana Demirspor last season.

City are well-stocked for goalkeepers, and Kosovo international Muric might still command a decent transfer fee, so maybe now is the time to use him to boost the transfer budget a little.

Ante Palaversa

22-year-old Palaversa has had various loan spells away since signing in 2019, with an 18-month spell at KV Kortrijk ending this summer. A route to the City first team looks unlikely, so he faces either another loan away or a more permanent exit either this summer or next, should City want to command a fee.

Morgan Rogers

Forward Rogers looked on an upwards trajectory after impressing on loan in League One for Lincoln in 2021, then earning a loan to Championship promotion contenders Bournemouth last season with a purchase option included in the agreement. However, Rogers simply didn't get the playing time he wanted under Scott Parker and the loan was cut short after he failed to secure a different switch in January.

Rogers ended up back in City training at the end of the season, so will now be looking to make up for lost time with his next move.

Yangel Herrera

Herrera is a name that keeps recurring in transfer windows as he has impressed in Spain with Granada and then Espanyol in recent years. City were open to selling him last summer and in January to raise funds, with some Premier League clubs linked, but no deals materialised.

Yan Couto

Maybe a more unlikely candidate to leave permanently, Yan Couto built on a good spell in Spain's second division with Girona in 2020/21 to kick on at Braga last season, where he made 42 appearances. Part of last summer's pre-season training squad, City may want to keep Couto to see if he continues to develop, but there is bound to be plenty of interest in taking him next season.

Nahuel Bustos

If Pablo Moreno struggled to force his way into Girona's promotion-winning squad last season, that wasn't a problem for forward Nahuel Bustos, 23, who scored 11 times in 45 outings for City's sister outfit.

It was the second year of a two-season loan in his first spell away from City since signing in 2020, but with the depth of forwards now at City it feels unlikely that he would get a chance at the Etihad.

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