Man City and Chelsea facing exodus of players who could be come 'superstars'
Manchester City are facing consistent difficulty when it comes to trying to keep hold of their best emerging youth talents.
That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that agents and advisors are keen to show upcoming stars away from the Etihad Stadium.
This comes after uncertainty surrounding the future of young winger Reigan Heskey, who is now out of contract at his boyhood club.
Wyness made it clear that the issue is a growing problem from City, who have tried to negate it previously by adding in buy-back clauses where possible.
The Citizens are trying to balance immediate success in the Premier League with the development of their future stars, and cannot always be successful in that regard, according to Wyness.
Several youngsters got a chance to break through at first-team level last term, but the Scottish businessman is clear that the club cannot possibly keep everyone.
Keith Wyness: Agents pushing young talents away from Man City
Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that it is in the interests of most agents to drive their younger clients away from City where possible.
He noted that they will push the narrative of opportunities being easier to come by elsewhere, in the hope that starlets put themselves in the shop window for moves.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness likened City's current situation to one seen at Chelsea in the past.
"It's always a problem for City, for Chelsea, all those teams that are trying to build up youth stocks right now. The whole thing, two words: pathway and minutes," he said.
"That's always going to be the problem, and there'll be agents and advisors taking these kids and saying, look, we can get you more minutes, we can get you in the shop window somewhere else. And if City can't offer it, then I'm afraid that's what's going to happen.
"We've seen it with Chelsea, we've seen it with City where players have gone off to other clubs and been superstars, and everyone goes, well how could you let them go?
"That's what City have got to recognise that there can be an attrition factor around their youth talent that they've got. And they can't please all the people all the time.
"They'll put in sell-on clauses, they'll put in buy-back clauses, to try and give them some insurance about those players if they're successful, and that's what the name of the game will be right now, but they can't hope to keep everybody happy."
Wyness reacts to collapsed Man City Japanese deal
Wyness told Football Insider last week that City are "best out of" their deals with Mumbai City FC and Yokohama F. Marinso after both collapsed in recent months.
City Football Group recently sold their shares in the Japanese outfit to car giants Nissan, having also pulled out of Mumbai last year.
Wyness has made it clear that the sales are little more than the group trimming their portfolio, and are nothing to be concerned about from the fans' perspective.
He noted that he had personally seen the facilities and setup at Mumbai, and emphasised that City have made the right call in pulling away.