Man City may regret selling “Messi-esque” star for £15m

Manchester City have some fantastic academy talents in their current squad. Pep Guardiola has the luxury of calling upon some of the most exciting homegrown talents, but arguably none fit the bill more than Phil Foden.

He has now made over 300 appearances for his boyhood club and has scored and assisted over 150 times. He has an extraordinary record as a City player.

Some of the other academy talents at Guardiola’s disposal this season include Rico Lewis and James McAtee, with Oscar Bobb another player who came through the ranks, although he has been injured for most of the campaign.

City’s homegrown crop could have been so much better had director of football Txiki Begiristain not made the mistake of selling some exciting talents.

The exciting academy talents who Man City sold

Perhaps the biggest mistake the Citizens have made in recent years was to sell Cole Palmer. The Wythenshawe-born attacker moved to Chelsea in 2023 for £42.5m and has since gone on to become a deadly attacker.

The England international already has 60 goals and assists in just over 70 appearances for the West Londoners. Jamie Carragher said at the start of the season that if he continues at the current trajectory, he could be considered “the best player in the Premier League”.

Another blunder City made in the transfer market was to sell Morgan Rogers. Now at Aston Villa, he originally joined Middlesbrough from City’s academy, where he is just shy of 50 games for the club. In that time, he has over 20 goals and assists, and has made his England debut.

The East Mancunian side sold another deadly finisher last summer, letting Liam Delap join Ipswich Town. He has over ten goal involvements already this term, playing for a Tractor Boys side struggling for form.

However, perhaps the worst sale of an academy star in recent seasons is a player who broke City’s heart in the Champions League earlier this week.

Man City’s biggest sale error

It has been a tough week for City, who lost 3-2 in the Champions League against Real Madrid. Goals from Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and former academy star Brahim Diaz were enough to earn Los Blancos all three points.

After rising through the ranks in City’s academy, the Morocco international went on to make 15 appearances for the first team under Guardiola. He scored two goals in that time, both coming in the Carabao Cup against Fulham.

The 25-year-old left the club for Madrid in January 2019 as a teenager. He reportedly cost the Spanish giants £15m, including add-ons, which, given his record at the La Liga outfit, seem like they surely have been met, at least partly.

He has played 96 times for the club so far, scoring 18 goals and registering 18 assists in that time. Last season, the Moroccan was on fire and managed eight goals and seven assists in 31 La Liga games as Los Blancos lifted the title.

Once again, Diaz has been in excellent form for Madrid in 2024/25. He has four goals and six assists in 30 appearances across all competitions, averaging one goal involvement every three games.

Given his impressive exploits since making the move to the Spanish capital, Diaz’s value has risen greatly. The “Messi-esque” superstar, as Owen Hargreaves once described him, is worth £52.9m according to CIES Football Observatory.

That is an incredible rise in his value compared to what the Citizens sold him for. In fact, the Real Madrid number 21 has seen his transfer value increase by 252%, an incredible rise for someone who was allowed to leave for such a cheap fee.

Reflecting on the value, it is surely something which must make City wish they had kept Diaz all those years ago. He has gone on to be a fantastic player at one of the world’s biggest clubs, and might well have scored the goal which, in theory, could have knocked them out of the Champions League.

It is a decision that Begiristain might wish he could reverse.

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