The 10 most over-inflated Man City player sales since 2008: Savio, Mahrez…

Manchester City are in big trouble with the Premier League for over-inflated sponsorship deals – but have they been guilty of anything similar with player sales?

All eyes are on City’s finances at the moment after the Premier League found them guilty of financial breaches. The case will rumble on as any punishment is decided.

But what have been City’s most eyebrow-raising player sales since their takeover in 2008?

Using the Transfermarkt values of the time, here are the top 10 players they’ve overcharged for.

10. Tijjani Reijnders – €11m overcharge

Reijnders only lasted one season at City before they shipped him off to Saudi Arabia in the summer.

The location of the buyers probably helped, but it was surprising that City made a profit on the midfielder, who wasn’t a total flop but wasn’t great for them either.

He was valued at €50m at the time of his sale, but City got €61m for him.

9. Brahim Diaz – €12m overcharge

City have certainly had a flair for swelling their finances with the sales of fringe players.

Brahim only played 15 times for them, although even the most ardent City fans would struggle to remember much from those appearances.

Six months before his contract was due to expire, Brahim was sold to Real Madrid in January 2019 for €17m – when he was estimated to be a €5m player.

He’s carved out a reputable career befitting the bigger fee since, in fairness, amassing more than 100 appearances each for Madrid and AC Milan.

8. Kelechi Iheanacho – €12.7m overcharge

You don’t have to be called Micah Richards to be a Manchester City player who bursts onto the scene.

Iheanacho looked like the next big thing when he scored 14 goals in his debut season in the first team, in 2015-16.

But after only managing half of that tally the following season under Pep Guardiola, Iheanacho was sold to Leicester City.

Still only 20 years old at the time, Iheanacho went for the equivalent of €27.7m (yes, we know it was a transaction in pounds between two English clubs, but we’re using Transfermarkt data here, so blame them for it being in euros).

In contrast, his market value was €15m.

7. Douglas Luiz – €14.3m overcharge

City never even gave Luiz any minutes, instead loaning him out to sister club Girona for the two years he was under contract.

Once he finally got a UK work permit, Aston Villa took a chance on him in 2019 in a deal worth the equivalent of €16.8m – rather than his €2.5m market value.

But it was a gamble that paid off for Villa; Luiz spent five years with them before being sold to Juventus, flopping there, and winning the Europa League back on loan at Villa.

6. Riyad Mahrez – €15m overcharge

Mahrez was past his peak by the time his City career came to an end. The metrics in question said he should have been worth €20m, but this was 2023 and the dawn of big Saudi spending.

It wasn’t too big an ask for Al Ahli, then, to commit to a €35m deal for the winger after his 78-goal spell with City.

5. Nico Gonzalez – €16m overcharge

One from the summer just gone, with Gonzalez only lasting 18 months at the Etihad Stadium.

He wasn’t exactly a regular starter in that time, so you can see why estimates of his market value – €40m – were on the conservative side.

But a needy Newcastle, deprived earlier in the summer of Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali in their midfield, came forward to finalise a deal worth €56m.

4. Danilo – €17m overcharge

This one was definitely murky. Part of a swap deal with Juventus for Joao Cancelo, Danilo’s move away from City was investigated in Italy when Juve’s capital gains were in the spotlight.

The alleged tactic was for both clubs to pay a higher price than they should have for the player they were signing, with the net difference staying the same anyway.

Danilo was supposed to be worth just €20m, but the books showed City getting almost double that with a €37m price.

3. James Trafford – €21.7m overcharge

Trafford thought he was heading back to City to become their number one last summer, only for Gianluigi Donnarumma to turn up and steal that dream from him.

But City still banked a sizeable fee when selling Trafford to Leeds a year later, knowing full well he’d the guaranteed starter for his new club.

Capitalising on Leeds’ desperation for a reliable keeper, City charged them the equivalent of €46.7m for a €25m player.

2. Cole Palmer – €29m overcharge

There were more than a few eyebrows raised over the fee Chelsea paid City for Palmer in 2023 after just 19 Premier League appearances.

He should have been worth €18m, according to the algorithms, but went for €47m.

Ironically, Palmer produced a 25-goal debut season for Chelsea and quickly became more valuable than what they’d spent on him.

This one probably goes down as good business for everyone involved.

1. Savio – €52.7m overcharge

The most over-priced deal of the summer, Savio joined Tottenham to the tune of €87.7m – quite extortionate for someone with only two Premier League goals by that point.

By Transfermarkt’s estimations, Savio’s value had actually gone down over the two years he was at City. Signed for €25m – which was half his market rate, thanks to City’s multi-club model – he should have been worth €35m by the time City were done with him.

But €87.7m – or the equivalent in pounds – is what Spurs paid to sign Savio. Blimey.