Manchester City defender CJ Egan-Riley has completed his free transfer to Burnley.
Egan-Riley, 19, came through every age group in the academy and finished last season by lifting the Under-23 trophy as captain as Brian Barry-Murphy's youngsters celebrated back-to-back league victories. It had been a breakthrough year for the teenage right-back, who followed up an impressive debut in the Carabao Cup in September 2021 at home to Wycombe with further senior appearances under Pep Guardiola against Sporting in the Champions League and Newcastle in the Premier League.
However, with his contract at the Etihad expiring this summer, Egan-Riley has taken the opportunity to join Championship side Burnley where he will hope to advance his professional career with more regular game time. City will receive a nominal fee from Burnley in recognition of their development of the player but could receive up to £1m in additional payments and will get 30 per cent of his next transfer fee.
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Burnley are also expected to take a second City youngster to Turf Moor this season with England Under-21 international Taylor Harwood-Bellis set to join on loan for the campaign. New Clarets boss Vincent Kompany had Harwood-Bellis with him at Anderlecht last year and has convinced the young centre-back to come back to work with him.
City's academy is set for more permanent departures this summer, with Sam Edozie, Darko Gyabi and Romeo Lavia all expected to follow Gavin Bazunu and Egan-Riley out the door in an attempt to accelerate their first team careers. With the Blues having to accept that the majority of their young players won't make their senior side, the fact that other clubs want them is a testament to the work that has gone on with the youth teams.
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