Stefan Borson: Oscar Bobb ‘burned his bridges’ with Pep Guardiola in ‘mysterious’ Man City situation
Oscar Bobb has completed a move away from Manchester City despite previously being highly rated at the Etihad Stadium.
The Norway international started Man City’s opening three games of the season, but his opportunities have been limited in recent months.
Man City made Bobb available for a January transfer after signing Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth.
Bobb has now completed a move to Fulham, where he is looking to kickstart his career.
Marco Silva’s side have agreed to pay £27million for the 22-year-old, with Man City retaining a 20 per cent sell-on clause and matching rights for any future bids.
Why Man City have decided to sell Oscar Bobb
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Bobb previously looked as though he could be an important player for Guardiola after breaking into his side in 2023.
Man City fans have been left disappointed by Bobb’s exit, but there is an acceptance it’s the best move for his career at this point.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: “It’s sort of in the usual City fee for a player that’s had limited first-team experience. I think the interesting thing about that particular transaction is, if you were to go back two years just before his injury, it looked like he was going to have a very important season.
“He scored an important goal against Newcastle. He then had a very good pre-season and then broke his leg. It was a very serious leg break, and he’s really not been able to recapture that form.
“I mean, Pep actually started him a lot in the early games this season. He started both the Spurs and the Brighton defeats, and the reality is he didn’t play that well.
“Then he went off to Norway. There were then some comments about his performance with Norway, which I think probably hit his confidence when he didn’t need it to be hit, and he’s just not been able to recover his position in the squad.”
Why Man City have ‘lost a lot of money’ after Bobb exit
Borson suggested Guardiola didn’t seem convinced by the “mysterious” injury Bobb has been suffering with lately.
“He’s had some mysterious injury, which I think Pep was sceptical about, given some of his comments in the media, in the press conferences,” said Borson.
“I think there was some kind of issue there, and that is what happens sometimes I think with Guardiola. You can burn that bridge and I think that’s what happened. I think in the end it was inevitable that he would leave.
“If you look at maybe what he was heading to be worth or where he was, City probably lost quite a lot of money from the leg break, and potentially lost the first-team player.
“I think there was a good chance that he could have broken into the first team last season certainly, and it just obviously couldn’t happen.”
Bobb made 47 appearances during his time at Man City, where he registered three goals and four assists.
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