Tijjani Reijnders deal, Jack Grealish decision, £70m windfall - what next for Man City in transfer market
Manchester City transfer latest as the Blues take stock following a flurry of signings
And breathe. The initial transfer window is over and today will see Manchester City confirm their fourth signing in 72 hours as the Blues strike early.
Rayan Ait-Nouri arrived on Monday with Marcus Bettinelli following on Tuesday. Rayan Cherki's move from Lyon was confirmed on Tuesday night and the capture of Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan will be confirmed today with the deal having been completed in time for the deadline.
It means City have splashed out £108.5million before many other clubs have spent a penny, and it means Pep Guardiola will have a fresh quartet of new faces on the plane to America for the Club World Cup.
It's a blistering start to summer business and sets City up for the summer and the season ahead. They have added three players all capable of going straight into the first choice XI and have added the trio early with plenty of time to adjust and adapt before the Premier League kicks off in August.
The transfer window now pauses for six days before reopening on Monday and running until 7pm on September 1. So what can we expect from City between now and then?
Well the focus will shift to outgoings. Kyle Walker will not travel to the United States as he looks to sort a move away, and Jack Grealish is in a similar boat. Everton have been linked with the England man and he will have suitors even if his stock has suffered somewhat in recent months.
James McAtee, who will be in action for England at the Under-21 European Championships this month rather than on club duty in the States, will also surely move on. He has admirers in the Premier League and in Europe and City can expect to bank around £25m for the homegrown midfielder.
The FIFA Club World Cup will see 32 of the world's best club teams including Man City, Chelsea, Real Madrid, PSG and Bayern Munich play across 63 games from June 14-July 13.
Fans can watch every match live and for free by signing up to DAZN.
If they can secure that and more for Grealish, plus a fee for Walker, they will go some way to balancing the books after a spending spree that totals nearly £300m over the past two windows.
Any further senior departures will inform whether City make another move in the market but as things stand, there five players involved in Guardiola's first team most likely to depart - Ederson, Stefan Ortega, Bernardo Silva, Oscar Bobb and Ilkay Gundogan - are all set to stay at the Etihad.
Should a senior player move on, then City will act to replace them while a new right-back cannot be completely ruled out but the expectation at this stage is one won't arrive.
---
Here at the Manchester Evening News, we’re dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester City coverage and analysis.
Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.
You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.
And finally, if you’d rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Talking City podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.