Manuel Akanji sale could complete perfect Man City transfer story

Manchester City's position within the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability rules (PSR) is so strong that they don't really need to worry about amortisation, the buzzword of the modern transfer for clubs needing to balance their books.

City's ability to generate sizeable returns from academy graduates, who count as pure profit in PSR terms, means they always have a fair bit of headroom when the numbers are crunched every season.

This is a club that has always been good at selling players, but it's pretty handy at buying them too. Tijjani Reinders' performance at Molineux on Saturday had plenty of experts scratching their heads at how City landed the Netherlands international for £46million.

There are few better examples than Manuel Akanji, a last-minute signing in the summer window of 2022 for just £15million and a player who has repaid that fee countless times over since then.

The 30-year-old has made 136 appearances for City, with 118 of them starts, and has won two Premier League titles, as well as the iconic treble in 2022/23. The Club World Cup would follow.

By the end of that first season, Akanji was a regular. He started every Champions League knockout fixture, including the final, played in the FA Cup final success against Manchester United and was integral in the Premier League. He was among the cohort rested after the title had been secured with a week to spare.

Even last season, he was proving his worth. The former Borussia Dortmund defender had a couple of spells on the sidelines, including a two-month absence between February and April, but still emerged as one of the most available centre-backs in the squad at a time of crisis in that area.

But elite-level football moves at a relentless pace, and his