You wouldn’t expect many major players to leave Manchester City this summer after the success the Blues have enjoyed this season, but was this the case the same time last year?
The club spent a whopping £60m on club record signing Riyad Mahrez, as well as snapping up centre-back Phillipe Sandler and winger Daniel Arzani for £2.6m and an undisclosed fee respectively, but only sold six players to the tune of around £38m.
Goalkeeper Angus Gunn was the main departure, his move to Southampton fetched a modest £13.5m for the Blues, whilst Jason Denayer’s transfer to Lyon and Pablo Maffeo’s to Stuttggart both brought in around £9m each.
Young winger Bersant Celina joined Swansea for £3m and Joe Hart was sold to Burnley for £3.5m
Striker Olarenwaju Kayode joined Shakhtar Donetsk for an undisclosed fee.
Gunn, Kayode and Maffeo all endured difficult seasons after leaving Manchester.
In a frustrating campaign for the Saints, Gunn found chances few and far between as he started only 12 matches. However, the young stopper did manage to keep three clean sheets.
Whilst Shakthar won the league and cup double, Nigerian striker Kayode managed only one start and racked up more red cards (one) than he did goals.
Despite being his club’s record signing at the time, Maffeo also found his game time limited. The Spaniard made only eight starts in the Bundesliga and saw his side limp to a 16th place finish, then subsequently relegated after losing the relegation play off.
Joe Hart and Celina enjoyed slightly more successful campaigns at their respective clubs. Hart made 19 appearances for Burnley, keeping four clean sheets as he filled in for the injured Nick Pope and Tom Heaton. But, his game time tailed off in the second half of the season as Heaton returned to fitness.
Kosovo international Celina had a productive year as he impressed despite Swansea’s inconsistent form. He registered five goals and six assists in 38 appearances as the Swans finished 10th in the Championship.
However, it was Jason Denayer who flourished the most after leaving City. The Belgian centre back impressed in his side’s Champions League win and draw against the Blues and was integral in his side’s third-place finish in Ligue 1. Denayer finished the season with 31 appearances in the league, making 23 tackles and chipping in with two goals.
