Man City could buck a trend with unexpected transfer

18 hours ago 28

Manchester City could bring an academy graduate back to the club if they push ahead with plans to sign James Trafford from Burnley.

Tyrone Marshall

Tyrone is the senior football writer for the Manchester Evening News, covering Manchester United and Manchester City. He joined the MEN in November 2018, having previously covered Burnley for the Lancashire Telegraph.

Angelino
Angelino is the last City youngster to return to the club after being sold

It has been a hot topic of online debate among Manchester City fans in recent years. Plenty of academy graduates have been sold with their pathway blocked at the Etihad, only to go on and impress elsewhere when the opportunities arose.

There is no harder task in football than making the jump from promising youngster at City to first-team squad member, but the path is there for those who can do it. Rico Lewis, Nico O'Reilly, Oscar Bobb and Phil Foden will fly the flag for the academy this season.

But there are plenty who have been sold on, only to state their case when first-team football was provided elsewhere. Some sought a way out to go and play, others were deemed to be not good enough, but the list of City academy alumni doing impressive things in the game is a long one.

However, cases where those players return to the Etihad remain rare. City have perfected the business model of selling young talent for high fees and inserting clauses into the deal that benefit them down the line. Sell-on clauses have been particularly profitable, but many of these players also leave with buy-back clauses or options for City to match any accepted bids.

This summer, James Trafford could buck the trend. Two years ago, City sold the 22-year-old to Burnley for a fee of up to £19million, and the goalkeeper, who didn't make a first-team appearance in Manchester, has excelled for the exposure with the Clarets.

City have a buy-back clause and an option that gives them three days to match a successful bid for Trafford, who has been the subject of at least two failed bids from Newcastle this summer. In the end neither might be required, with confidence the two clubs can come to a deal, with Trafford keen to return to the Etihad.

Trafford might become the first City youngster to return to the club since Angelino six years ago. Then, the Blues activated a £5.3million buy-back clause to re-sign the Spaniard, who had impressed with PSV Eindhoven. It was a punt on a problem position at left-back rather than bringing a player back because he had truly scaled the heights.

He managed just six Premier League appearances in his second coming and was on loan at RB Leipzig after just half a season back in the first-team picture. It's fair to say Angelino is not the example City would want of a young player returning to the club, but maybe Trafford will change that.

There have been plenty of recent debates about whether City should have brought players back, especially last season when an ageing team began to struggle and looked in need of an injection of youth and energy.

City made a tidy sum when Romeo Lavia moved on from Southampton to Chelsea, but the 21-year-old Belgian has continued to excel at Stamford Bridge. He would have been an outstanding back-up to Rodri, but probably wanted a greater guarantee of first-team football.

There wasn't a great deal of disappointment when Morgan Rogers was sold to Middlesbrough, but his game has gone up several levels since and his Aston Villa form earned an England debut last season. He would have offered something at City, but was a long way short of the level required when he left.

Then there is Liam Delap. City had options to bring him back this summer, but it was always a non-starter. Delap would have to play second fiddle to Erling Haaland and, like Lavia, he would have wanted more than that. The £59million signing of Omar Marmoush in January further blocked his path.

Cole Palmer's case is a little different. City's chances of re-signing him from Chelsea would be impossibly slim now, given his ascent at Stamford Bridge. Maybe there is some regret at selling him, but the Wythenshawe-born attacking midfielder wanted more first-team football than was available to him.

That, ultimately, is what pushed Trafford to Burnley in 2023. He was in a logjam of goalkeepers at the Etihad and had the chance to play Premier League football with the Clarets. Now, the picture has changed, and with City looking to refresh their goalkeeping options, a return could be on the cards.

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