'Quite incredible' - Man City's transfer plan revealed after Cody Gakpo agreement
Manchester City have switched their transfer focus to "out-trading" their Premier League rivals as they finalise the signing of Liverpool star Cody Gakpo.
That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Citizens' days of simply "out-spending" their direct rivals are likely now behind them.
This comes after a summer window that has seen Enzo Maresca's side offload as many as 10 members of their first-team squad, with only three of their new additions set to come straight into their senior group.
The Manchester outfit notably have one of the Premier League's smallest summer net spends at the moment, and Wyness believes that is indicative of their plan to start selling more in the coming years.
City have agreed an £85million deal to sign Cody Gakpo from Liverpool, having already spent huge sums on Elliot Anderson and Ayyoub Bouaddi.
Their total summer spend will pass well beyond the £300m mark if they get their move for Gakpo over the line, but that has been balanced by over £230m of sales, with a further £60m likely to come if Omar Marmoush ultimately joins Tottenham permanently.
Man City play cautious game with Enzo Maresca
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 City's efforts to balance out their spending is part of a new long-term plan for them to get better at trading players.
He also pointed out that the club hierarchy will have been reluctant to sanction a big loss on players with Maresca still unproven as their manager.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness explained the implications of the club's change of tact.
"For the last 10 or so years, City have been acquiring assets at a very heavy investment rate. They've been spending the money, and they have got a squad depth that is quite incredible," he said.
"Now, I think when I looked at it as well, having the new manager come in, it makes sense to pause for a season. What I think you're seeing is where City in the past would outspend people, now they're going to out-trade people because they've got a great stock of quality to trade from.
"I think that's what we're going to see City become, a very strong trading club. I think that's quite right in terms of this cycle of where they are. They can't keep on buying because there's no need to at the moment, to be fair.
"It makes sense for all parties to take this season, take stock. They've still got a very strong squad. There are no complaints there at all about what cards Maresca's got to deal with."
Stefan Borson suggests late Jack Grealish twist
Former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson told Football Insider on Saturday that Maresca could yet opt to keep Jack Grealish as part of his squad for this season.
The club hierarchy are keen to offload the winger amid interest from Everton and Sunderland, but the boss may yet have other ideas.
Borson made it clear that Grealish is not "that far out of Maresca's mind," after he was introuced as a substitute in both the Community Shield and the opening game of the Premier League season.
The football finance expert believes that the 30-year-old staying put at the Etihad Stadium still cannot be ruled out, with Maresca not desperate to show the player the door.