Who came in, who left and ‘the books’.

I started doing this now-regular post-summer-transfer piece back at the beginning of the 2022-23 season and it was for two closely connected reasons.

It was a season where it soon became obvious that we were ‘clearing the decks’ more than ever before; both with regards to permanent and loan transfers.

We actually moved out a whopping 35 players in total by September of 2022!

It was quite timely that I began doing this monitoring of both incoming and outgoing players as there appeared to be even more scrutiny than usual at the time about our spending; as questions intensified from all quarters (nosey feckers!) regarding our finances.

So, I just decided to then make this an annual blog piece and here are this summer’s figures…for City fans and nosey feckers alike:

In
Name	Position	Cost
Elliot Anderson	Midfielder – Centre	£116M.
Pierce Charles	Goalkeeper	£3M plus add-ons.
Jeremy Monga	Winger – Left / Right	£12.5M.
Mathys Detourbet	Winger / Forward – Left / Centre	£21M
Geronimo Rulli	Goalkeeper	£1.7M.
Ayyoub Bouaddi	Midfielder – Centre	£81.4M +add-ons of up to £85.6M.
Max-Edgar Chabot	Goalkeeper	Free following a pre-season trial.
Allan Elias	Midfielder / Winger – Right / Centre	£32M +add-ons of £2.2M
Iliman Ndiaye	Midfielder / Winger – L / R / C	£60M +add-ons of up to £65M
Enzo Fernandez	Midfielder - Centre	£125M

TOTAL SUMMER EXPENDITURE: £452.6M +add-ons

Out
Name	Position	Sale price
Tomas Galvez	Defender – Left	£427,000
Joel Ndala	Winger – Left / Right	£770,000
Jahmai Simpson-Pusey	Defender – Centre	£4.7M +add-ons of up to £6.4M.
Manuel Akanji	Defender – Centre	£12.9M.
Nathan Ake	Defender – Left / Centre	£8.5M.
Luca Fletcher	Forward – Left / Right / Centre	Undisclosed.
Isaac Smith	Defender – Centre	Free.
Reigan Heskey	Winger – Left / Right	£2.1M +add-ons of up to £6.8M.
Matty Warhurst	Striker	£100,000
James Trafford	Goalkeeper	£40M +add-ons of up to £45M.
Rodri	Midfielder – Centre	£65M
Tijjani Reijnders	Midfielder – Centre	£52M
Finley Burns	Defender – Centre	£200,000
Savinho	Winger – Left / Right	£75M +add-ons of up to £85M
Nico Gonzalez	Midfielder – Centre	£47M +add-ons of £3M

TOTAL SUMMER INCOME: £308.697M +add-ons

BALANCE: £143.903M in the red which, when you look at the quality and price we’ve spent on incoming players, is an amazingly low figure these days; thanks to a lot of very astute deals regarding our outgoing players.

And purely for your information…

…here’s a list of players who have left on loan (or were released permanently) in the summer:

Barnardo Silva -          Midfielder / Winger – R / C     -           Released

John Stones -              Defender – Centre                  -           Released

Oliver Whatmuff -       Goalkeeper                             -           Stockport County

Pierce Charles -          Goalkeeper                             -           Queens Park Rangers

Cass Machin -             Midfielder – Centre                 -           Released

Sverre Nypan -           Midfielder – Centre                 -           Lommel SK

Ezra Carrington -        Defender – Right                     -           Released

Mathys Detourbet -     Winger / Forward – L / C        -           Monaco

Spike Brits -                Goalkeeper                             -           Sutton United

Divin Mubama -           Striker - Centre                       -           Southampton

Christian McFarlane - Defender – Left                       -           Leicester City

Kalvin Phillips -           Midfielder – Centre                 -           Sheffield United

Ezra Carrington -        Defender – Right                     -           Released

Ashton Muir -              Mid / Wing – L / R / C             -           Released

Max Alleyne -              Defender – Centre                  -           Burnley

Charlie Gray -             Midfielder – Centre                 -           Wigan Athletic

Emilio Lawrence -       Midfielder / Winger – L/R/C    -           Luton Town

Lakyle Samuel -          Defender – Right / Centre      -           Exeter City

Divine Mukasa -          Midfielder – Centre                 -           West Ham United

Omar Marmoush -      Wing / Forw / Striker – L/R/C -           Tottenham Hotspur

Stephen Mfuni -          Defender – Left / Centre         -           Coventry City

Jeremy Monga -          Winger – Left / Right               -           Swansea City

Jack Grealish -            Midfielder / Winger – L/C        -           Everton

Juma Bah -                 Defender – Centre                  -           FC Augsburg

Jaden Heskey -           Midfielder / Forward – Centre -           Sheffield Wednesday

Total number of permanent transfers out this summer: 15

Total number of exiting players this summer including those on loan or released: 40! Wow, wow, WOW! That certainly beats the number of exits from that summer transfer window of 2022.

Thoughts on our mainly first-team-bound, incoming players?

-       Eliot Anderson is an important signing not just for now but for the long-term future. Despite being a good young age at 24, this-coming November, he has bags of experience already and clearly has quality as well as a good head on his shoulders. A very shrewd signing who we pounced on early in the transfer market.

-       We saw a massive change in the age of our main back-up keeper, which saw a 23-year-old depart and a 34-year-old arrive. Although I was disappointed to see James Trafford leave permanently, I was pleased to get in a fella who has bags of experience both domestically as well as for his country. Geronimo Rulli’s video clips look very good indeed, both shot stopping and distribution wise.

-       I’m really excited to see more of Ayyoub Bouaddi. We were told by our manager in the Crystal Palace pre-match press conference that the Moroccan international was mature beyond his years and I could clearly see that when he came on from the bench in the 82^nd minute. Yes, we were 1-3 up by then but he looked so confident and composed.

 -       A good, mature attitude and work ethic are two qualities that I believe to be just as important as talent and so when I read over and over again just what a crackin’ lad Allan Elias was, I soon warmed to the idea of him joining us. I say “warmed to” because when I first viewed his footage not long after we had sold Savinho (now Savio), I could not see any difference nor improvement…such as these YouTube clips are at least. But then stories began to surface in this country about the 22-year-old’s tragic losses early on in his life and how they have forged his mature mentality; with colleagues giving high praise with regards to his mind-set as a person and footballer. It was heartening to hear.

-       I have to admit that I hadn’t heard of Iliman Ndiaye, despite being a player for another Premier League side and one that’s just 37.7 miles down the road. 🫢🫣 I wasn’t alone though - when I informed a fellow football fan of another local team he too said, “Who?”. Apparently Everton fans were ‘one voice’ in not wanting the ex-Hyde United loanee to leave and was very highly thought of by the club as a whole. That bodes well. Another winger to add to our wealth of wingers now at our disposal.

-       And lastly, Enzo Fernandes. Quality player, for sure, but one who appears to attract a fair degree of controversy off the pitch. A good number of City fans have expressed concern about his [all-important] mentality and although I understand that he plays with ‘fire in his belly’, he does tend to leave those moments of stupidity off the grass. It might surprise some people, just as it surprised me, but he has never served a single suspension due to a red or yellow card accumulation in the Premier League. He’s had a few in other domestic and international competitions but even then, not many. Medical people will tell you that a human male’s brain doesn’t fully develop until the age of 25. Enzo was 25 on 17^th January 2026. 🤞

Thank you, as always, for taking the time to read.