Man City would accept ‘£40m’ Nico O’Reilly offer – Stefan Borson
Manchester City turned down offers for some of their academy stars in the January transfer window despite their heavy spending spree.
The Premier League champions rejected an approach from Chelsea to sign midfielder Nico O’Reilly ahead of last week’s deadline.
The Athletic reported on 3 February Etihad chiefs would have demanded a buy-back clause for the 19-year-old, with Chelsea unwilling to meet those terms after enquiring about his availability.
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider the deal for O’Reilly would have been worth at least £40million.
He believes the Manchester giants would have been willing to accept Chelsea’s offers if a buy-back clause had been included for the England Under-20 international.
O’Reilly made his senior debut last year after being named in the starting lineup for the Community Shield clash against Manchester United, where his side won on penalties after the game ended 1-1.
The teenager has made seven appearances for Man City’s first team this season and scored his first professional goal in the 8-0 victory over Salford City in the FA Cup third round.
Man City could have landed huge profit with Nico O’Reilly sale
Borson insisted Pep Guardiola’s side would have earned a lot of money from selling O’Reilly in the January window.
He told Football Insider: “I guess the most interesting thing actually was that they appear to have been happy to sell as long as they could get the buyback that they wanted.
“They would have actually sold him. He’s not really played and City seems to have been quite desperate in midfield, so the manager clearly doesn’t think he’s quite ready.
“But Chelsea seemed to think he was. I don’t really see from a Chelsea perspective given that they’ve got Fernandez, Caicedo and Lavia, it’s very hard to see where he would have gone in to play any games at Chelsea either.
“As always, it’s quite a puzzle as to how Chelsea have any capacity from a PSR perspective.
“I would have thought a deal for O’Reilly would have been at least £40million.
“That deal would have been worth quite a lot of money to City if they wanted to cash in.”
Man City spent £200m after January signing spree
Man City signed four new players in the January window after enduring a challenging first half of the campaign.
Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez all made the move to the Etihad, while Claudio Echeverri also joined the club after a deal was agreed in January 2024.
Borson previously told Football Insider Man City spent £200million on their January signings after agents’ fees are included.
Guardiola’s side secured their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 2-1 victory over Leyton Orient on Saturday (8 February), while they sit fifth in the Premier League table.
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