Man City get £4.5m boost to transfer budget as player sale confirmed with huge sell-on clause

Wolves have exercised their option to purchase Manchester City midfielder Tommy Doyle after a successful loan at Molineux.

Doyle, 22, has been at City since childhood and is the grandson of two club legends - Mike Doyle and Glyn Pardoe. He captained the academy to FA Youth Cup success in 2020, and made his senior debut in 2019 against Southampton in the Carabao Cup.

He would go on to make seven appearances for the club, with loans at Hamburg, Cardiff and Sheffield United earning him 65 senior appearances away from the Etihad. His form in helping the Blades into the Premier League saw him in demand last summer, with a late loan move to Wolves agreed after Matheus Nunes went the other way in a £53m deal.

ALSO READ: Erling Haaland has five games to erase his final Man City question mark

ALSO READ: Man City handed imminent title boost as Arsenal learn fate after Tottenham defeat

As part of the loan, Wolves had the option to purchase Doyle this summer for £4.5m - an option they have now exercised on the eve of their trip to the Etihad.

Doyle has made 30 appearances for Gary O'Neil's side, but will remain ineligible to face City on Saturday as the permanent transfer will not go through until the end of the season.

City will retain a huge 50 per cent sell-on clause if Wolves sell him in the future, and also a buy-back option for a player they continue to rate highly.

Doyle's exit is the latest in a string of lucrative academy sales following the likes of Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia, Carlos Borges, Shea Charles and James Trafford in recent seasons. Fellow loanee Taylor Harwood-Bellis could take City's summer earnings up to £20m before the transfer window opens, with Southampton having an obligation to buy the defender for £15m