Romeo Lavia to Chelsea gives Man City new record for academy sales
Manchester City's cut from Chelsea's purchase of Romeo Lavia from Southampton will see the Blues break their record for money generated from homegrown talent in a transfer window.
Oscar Bobb, James McAtee, and Cole Palmer have all been in Pep Guardiola's squad over the summer as the manager runs his eye over which talent to include in his group for the coming season alongside Phil Foden and Rico Lewis. And the club have also generated over £50m of sales from academy players that have been snapped up by other clubs.
Shea Charles (£10.5m rising to £15m) and James Trafford (£15m rising to £19m) both moved earlier in the summer to Southampton and Burnley respectively, with Trafford making his Premier League debut against his former club at Turf Moor on Friday. The sales of Carlos Borges (£13m rising to £17.1m to Ajax), Dire Mebude (£1.75m to Westerlo) and Tyler and Jack Fletcher (£2m to United) have also bolstered both the City coffers and their reputation for developing talent.
Lavia was sold to Southampton last summer with a number of clauses to protect City if, as Guardiola put it, the player 'exploded'. Chelsea tried to buy the midfielder mere months later and have now beaten Liverpool to his signature in a deal that will cost an initial £53m plus another £5m in potential add-ons.
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That gives City a sum of around £8m rising to £9m on the profit generated by Southampton, bringing the total income this window from academy sales to a guaranteed £50.25m with the potential for another £13.6m in add-ons.
That eclipses the previous best that came last year, when City made a guaranteed £46.5m with the potential for another £6.5m. Further sales
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