Gone in Six Months: Man City ‘Allow’ Exits for Two Winter Signings

These proposed departures could ultimately benefit the players and Manchester City in the long run.

The Man City rebuild is a work in progress. / IMAGO/NurPhoto

Manchester City could let two of their most recent new arrivals leave the club on loan this summer, a new report has claimed, with a rebuild of Pep Guardiola’s squad continuing to take shape.

Having seen their 2024–25 season alarmingly spiral in November and December, City spent an estimated £172.2 million ($234.6 million) on four players in January—Abdukhodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, Omar Marmoush, Nico González. Four more—Rayan Aït-Nouri, Marcus Bettinelli, Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders—have arrived in the early weeks of the summer for another £112.1 million ($152.2 million).

Former River Plate talent Claudio Echeverri had also finally linked up with City in January, a year after his transfer was agreed. The teenager made a surprise debut in the FA Cup final last month.

But The Athletic writes that Echeverri and Reis could now be loaned out.

Claudio Echeverri scored as Man City beat Al Ain on Monday. / IMAGO/Xinhua

Both South American talents are still teenagers—19—and it may be that playing more regularly elsewhere in the short-term, rather than have an understudy or backup role in Manchester, is better for their respective development in the long run.

The Athletic report adds that centre-back Reis’s situation may depend on “other movements.”

City currently have Rúben Dias, Nathan Aké, Manuel Akanji, John Stones and the aforementioned Khusanov, who had more of an immediate impact when he also arrived midway through last season. There have been doubts about Stones’s future after a campaign that was severely limited as a result of injury, although the veteran England international has expressed his desire to stay.

Echeverri faces similar competition for a place. The Argentine is typically a winger or No. 10 and actually scored when he played the opening 45 minutes of Monday night’s 6–0 Club World Cup win over Al Ain. However, Echeverri was replaced by Phil Foden at halftime, and faces plenty of competition for minutes with Jérémy Doku, Nico O’Reilly, Savinho, Oscar Bobb, Marmoush and Cherki all among the substitutes.

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