MATT BARLOW: Man City’s stamp of excellence is paying off as youth proves most precious asset in a disrupted transfer market

Summer business is vibrant again at the Manchester City farm shop.

With Carlos Borges to Ajax, Shea Charles to Southampton and James Trafford to Burnley – three talented teenagers sold for a total sum of more than £50m – it is a hallmark of the market for the second year running.

Graduates of the city’s academy charge huge fees. Sometimes without kicking a ball at senior level.

Ajax beat West Ham and Eintracht Frankfurt to sign 19-year-old winger Borges for £17m, despite never appearing in Pep Guardiola’s squad, nor on loan.

Same for three of the four teenagers sold to Southampton last year. Midfielder Charles, who followed to the south coast in a deal worth up to £15 million, has half an hour of senior experience on the final day of last season.

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Saints, who also brought teenage goalkeeper Josh McNamara out of Etihad Stadium this summer, are at the center of this trend. Committed to the youth, with an exciting harvest of their own coming through, they have gone to great lengths to tap into the secrets of Manchester City’s success.

They have lured key City Academy recruiters and a cluster of players.

Of Romeo Lavia, Gavin Bazunu, Sam Edozie and Juan Larios, who were signed last summer for around £35 million, only goalkeeper Bazunu came with senior football experience.

It certainly did not yield immediate results. Presumably relegation was not in the plan, but from a business point of view, Lavia’s case may be the only justification required.

One good season in a failing team and his value has increased fivefold. Chelsea and Liverpool compete for the 19-year-old Belgian. Bidding is already north of £50 million.

James Ward-Prowse, an England international with 349 Premier League appearances, 49 goals and proven quality, is significantly cheaper. Last season, he scored nine against Lavia’s lone goal. However, at 28 years old, Ward-Prowse lacks the promise of youth and the appeal of a resale fee.

Those desperately chasing Manchester City at the top of the Premier League showed no interest in 30-year-old Harry Kane for £100m despite his guaranteed goals, but all were willing to spend more on very good midfielders, who don’t doing. not scoring goals, but fit the age profile.

This is the logic as defined by financial fair play. Youth is the most precious asset in a distorted market. Even more desirable when complete with City’s stamp of excellence.

Every young footballer who is identified by City’s global network of scouts and analysts and then ends up in an academy in a Guardiola fashion has some kind of insurance against loss of value.

For the first decade of the Premier League era, Arsenal and Manchester United dominated this landscape. Then Chelsea shook it up when they realized they could ease the pressure from FFP by storing players and generating income by loaning or selling them to offset huge expenses under Roman Abramovich.

This policy has shifted to another realm since the Clearlake acquisition, with lavish, unprecedented investment in young football players.

The city is generally more discreet. They recruited Lavia, Bazunu, Edozie and Larios at the age of 16. Lavia from Anderlecht, Bazunu from Shamrock Rovers, Edozie from Millwall and Larios from Barcelona. Borges came over from Sporting in Portugal in 2014.

They also manage to maintain a strong local identity. Youth abounds in Manchester lads and Guardiola keeps the best of them close, preferring to nurture them himself rather than entrust their development to others.

The first team this season includes Phil Foden, Rico Lewis, Cole Palmer and James McAtee.

Look through the Premier League to find Jadon Sancho at Manchester United, Douglas Luiz at Aston Villa, Pedro Porro at Tottenham Hotspur, David Brooks at Bournemouth and Tosin Adarabioyo at Fulham, all of whom spent some stage of their development at City. All offer resale fees and repurchase options.

Issa Kabore is on loan to Luton and there are countless others who have been brought down by the EFL pyramid. Taylor Harwood-Bellis helped Burnley to the championship title last season. McAtee and Tommy Doyle helped Sheffield United to promotion to the Premier League.

Then think of the other dozens of clubs in the football group City. They are slick and well run, it always seems to be ahead of the game. Very admirable were it not for the disturbing edge this international trade in teens had in a quest for world domination by the wealthiest clubs.

With each transfer window that passes, their power and influence becomes more important.

Sidibe’s Stoke breakthrough bittersweet for axed coaches

Sol Sidibe’s emergence at Stoke City has attracted attention. The 16-year-old son of former striker Mamady Sidibe, who works at the club in an ambassadorial role, has broken into the first team after impressing boss Alex Neil.

Sidibe junior, who started in the Carabao Cup last week and has been used as a substitute in two championship games, has been in the youth system for a while. The irony of his breakthrough will ring with the academy coaches sacked by Stoke late last season in the name of a fresh start.

When a loving goodbye is more than just a kind gesture

A friendly against Shakhtar Donetsk will go down as Harry Kane’s last appearance in a Tottenham shirt and, although he scored four goals, his farewell couldn’t match Andriy Pyatov’s for sheer theatre.

Shakhtar’s retiring goalkeeper fell out at Spurs in the 16th minute as a nod to his 16 years of service. Play was interrupted as teammates formed a guard of honor for his departure, followed by a trophy presentation, handshakes, backslaps, and a brief photo shoot. It was a nice gesture, allowing 39-year-old Pyatov to finish his career in front of a crowd of 50,000, rather than in the empty stadiums of wartime Ukrainian football.

Whether they were aware of the plan or not, the Tottenham players politely lingered until the game restarted, which reminded me of a story passed down through the generations from Sheffield United’s tour of South America in 1967.

The Blades visited Club Everest in Guayaquil, although they were unaware at the time of arrival that the occasion would double as a homecoming ceremony for Alberto Spencer, a legend of Ecuadorian football who is about to be honored for his achievements in Uruguay with Penarol who won the Copa Libertadores in the previous year and defeated Real Madrid to win the Intercontinental Cup.

But his flight was delayed and the kick-off was postponed. Then his travel plans got further complicated, so the game got underway and was in the second half when the grounds crew shuffled to build a temporary stage in the middle of the field.

The game came to a halt and the stunned Sheffield United players walked around in bewilderment as construction work was completed before Spencer emerged, took the stage, basked in frenzied applause, waved and left.

And most of the crowd went with him as the friendly wriggled to the end in an almost empty stadium.