Man City have told rival clubs when they will sell wantaway stars

Manchester City will let a player who wants to leave do so, but only under the right conditions.

The fact that few have left Pep Guardiola's first team squad under their own steam in recent years points in part to the immense success that has been enjoyed, but also to City's firm position in the transfer market. The Blues will not stand in a player's way, but they won't be walked over by a player or a buying club.

Bayern Munich found this out in 2019 when they thought that if they talked in the media enough about wanting Leroy Sane on their terms City would be forced to sell. Sane moved a year later instead, and it is hard to say that Bayern have seen the player that Guardiola signed.

Chelsea did similar last year, with numerous reports citing how close they were to signing Nathan Ake despite them clearly not meeting the two City conditions of a £50m asking price with enough time for them to find a replacement. Chelsea talk never materialised into a walk and Ake won the Treble in Manchester instead.

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Even Barcelona, who have had more success than most in signing City players, have only actually paid for one. Having refused to meet the desired fees for Eric Garcia, Ilkay Gundogan, Aymeric Laporte, Bernardo Silva, and many more, the only successful transfer negotiations with City resulted in them paying £46.7m for Ferran Torres.

Just as City are clear with any players wanting a move over what is required for that to happen, so too the interested clubs know that they cannot expect to come and raid. If they want to sign a Treble winner, they must pay what it takes to remove a quality player from an already-thin squad.

City will not hold a player