Manchester City hold academy open day – 40+ European scouts attend to table loans and permanent transfers | OneFootball

Manchester City reportedly held an open day to showcase their brightest academy stars across several age groups to some of Europe’s biggest agents, as per a new report.

City have made a strong side income from selling academy stars for lucrative sums that have brought in significant financial windfalls to represent a pure profit on the club’s accounts, notably the £40 million sale of Cole Palmer to Chelsea in 2023.

As the summer transfer window appeared on the horizon in the closing weeks and months of the recent campaign, bosses at the Etihad Stadium were keen to streamline Pep Guardiola’s squad and trim the wage bill ahead of the new campaign.

Kyle Walker has been sold to Burnley for a deal that could fetch Manchester City around £5 million if conditions are met, with James McAtee also expected to leave permanently. City have set an asking price of £25-30 million for the 22-year-old midfielder.

After getting Walker – formerly one of City’s highest earners after signing a new deal in 2023 – off their books, Manchester City have also told Kalvin Phillips and Jack Grealish to find new clubs before the 2025-26 Premier League campaign begins in August.

Kevin De Bruyne has joined Napoli on a free transfer after Manchester City officials and Guardiola collectively decided against offering the 34-year-old a new contract, with the Belgian leaving the Blues after 10 memorable years at the Etihad Stadium.

City have brought in Rayan Ait-Nouri, Marcus Bettinelli, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki to bolster their depleted squad that succumbed to a third-place 2024-25 Premier League finish, crashed out of the UEFA Champions League at the Round of 16 stage and lost the FA Cup final to Crystal Palace last season.

The recruitment of reinforcements have been led by newly-appointed director of football Hugo Viana, who has laid down an early marker in his mission to revamp Guardiola’s squad and assemble a winning team to challenge on all fronts next season.

The Real Tolmie’s Hairdoo has reported on X that Manchester City held an open day for academy stars across various age groups on Wednesday, with more than 40 scouts from across Europe in attendance as the Blues invited loan and transfer interest for some of their best young talent.

Manchester City have already sanctioned a number of loans for academy players this summer, with plenty more expected to leave for the upcoming campaign in pursuit of regular first-team football to raise their stock and get senior experience under their belt.

Loan moves have also been mooted for January centre-back signing Vitor Reis and Argentine midfielder Maximo Perrone as Manchester City assess their squad depth for the upcoming campaign and make decisions on the future(s) of their younger first-team stars.

However, after impressing under Cesc Fabregas whilst on loan in Italy last term, Perrone is set to complete a €13 million transfer to Como in the coming weeks. It is understood that Guardiola favours a stay for Reis – despite a wide acceptance that Manchester City need to offload at least one of their first-team centre halves before the new season.